This Is My Story
by oldshowaddict2015
Summary: Tyler Hampton, from Oak Leaf, Texas, is a small town girl and a huge Four Seasons fan. When she somehow finds herself back in the 1960's in New Jersey, she finds herself slowly but surely befriending the band and becoming a member before their initial success. But everything that must go up, must come down. Tyler soon becomes homesick, and learns she can never go home. No flames!
1. Prologue

_**DISCLAIMER**_: Yes, _**Frankie Valli, Tommy DeVito, Nick Massi, Bob Gaudio, and Bob Crewe are real**_** people. **Since Jersey Boys is up here for fanfiction and since I've read a few, I figured what the hell. I recently watched the movie, so obviously this will be Movieverse, and the movie is fucking AMAZING oh my God. Now.

This is the story of Tyler Hampton. She's a young girl from Oak Leaf, Texas, who originally delved into acting into being her big break, keeping writing and singing on the side. She was a senior at Red Oak High School and was planning on graduating in the year 2015 with her friends. She enjoys everything every young woman in 2014-2015 would enjoy-Instagram, her phone, Facebook, etc. Also, she's a huge fan of Dallas Stars hockey, Michael J. Fox and, you guessed it, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. One night, this young seventeen year old girl is sent back, by an unknown force, to the 1960's. It's not exactly the height of the Four Seasons (because, as of this point, they are the Four Lovers). Tyler befriends Frankie at a club, and slowly makes her way into the band. What happens then makes the whole world go crazy as the Four Seasons hit their peak and get famous. But every rise has a fall. During the time they're making it big, Tyler keeps having flashbacks to home, to 2014. She wonders how people are reacting to her being gone. She prays, she does everything she knows how to do (which isn't much) to get back home. She soon realizes, though, that her future belongs in the past, with a very successful group which originally was just a quartet of men. That group is slowly breaking up, Tommy being the first to leave (mainly by force). Nick soon follows, storming out of the room they were in. The last of the group does their best to continue on and sing songs. Their songs, which are just mainly Frankie singing lead with Tyler on the back vocals, are very successful. But that small peak also crashes for Frankie after he learns about his daughter. Tyler helps him slowly, but surely, heal, and acts on impulses that she's held back for years. By the time the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame comes along, things are never the same for the young girl who came from the future.

Obviously most of this didn't happen, and is fictional. Some things in Tyler's life, however, is true. This is just something I randomly thought of. I thought it would be fun to write and fun for y'all to read. Enjoy. And no flames please! Thank you! This goes along with the movie, to an extent. I will be writing it word for word. Enjoy! :)

Prologue

I never came from the old neighborhood. I came from a small town in Texas. I had friends, went to the local high school – planning on graduating in 2015 – and enjoyed my life, being raised by my grandparents.

We lived in Oak Leaf, Texas. Probably never heard of it, have you? I kind of expected that. I attend Red Oak High School. You might remember that place for the whole Pink Out Fiasco last year when a young kid wore everything pink to support his mother with her breast cancer and got sent home for it. Now does that ring a bell? If it does, then you'll know what kind of a school I attend. But I'm sure, scholastic wise, it's one of the best in Texas.

I wasn't your typical so-called "White Girl". I didn't enjoy Starbucks; I didn't wear Uggs and tight leggings just to show off my ass. Nor did I wear sweaters and scarves every single day with my hair down, long and straight as a board and make-up that would make a clown cringe. No, I was the more old soul kind of gal.

I enjoyed music from the 1990's to the 1950's (the 1960's and 1980's being my two favorite decades) and movies from the 1980's to the 1930's (Gone With the Wind being a personal favorite).

Instead of fawning over Zac Efron – who I never even found attractive during his High School Musical days – I fawned over Michael J. Fox – that's Marty McFly to some people – who is now a fifty-three year old man. I hardly listened to modern day music, preferring The Beatles and Elvis Presley over so-called singer Justin Bieber and One Direction.

But my favorite band of all was Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

Listen, I know it's weird. But the way Frankie could hit those high notes during those songs, just oh so casually switching to a falsetto (I think it's falsetto – I just know it's high and beautiful) without a problem, made the chills run up and down my spine. I knew practically all of the words to their songs. From Sherry to December, 1963 (Oh What A Night), Can't Take My Eyes Off You, and even My Eyes Adored You. Of course I knew a lot more, but there was too many to list, and I figured you would get bored.

You could catch me at any time of day, any day of the week, sick or well, trying to sing one of their songs. My voice was pretty good, I won't lie, but each time I tried to hit those high notes it would crack and the blush would fill my face until I looked like an overgrown tomato.

I wasn't a very big sports fan either, but when it came to Dallas Stars hockey you could never tear me away from the TV. Especially when it was Tyler Seguin scoring a goal. That boy could play, and man was he hot.

I didn't have much contact with my parents. They never reached out and I never reached out to them. My father would rather I be dead and my mother and I were very estranged. Little did they know, however, is that they'd never hear from me again.

I have no idea how it happened. I was sitting in my room, surrounded by my journals and writing some things down, my music low on my iPod dock. I was absentmindedly singing along to Rag Doll, writing my seventh screenplay. It all happened in a blink of an eye. The next thing I knew, I was in the middle of a big city. People bustled about, minding their own business. A couple of them gave me a dirty look and a few bumped into me. Holding the urge back to flip them off or speak, I made my way down the sidewalk, glancing in through a few windows before stopping. Originally, I was wearing just a t-shirt and jeans from Rue 21 with two different kinds of socks, my hair done in a simple messy bun. I wasn't expecting a different type of outfit. A simple light, salad green dress with white heels along with my red hair being straight until the very end, to where it flipped out all nice and fancy made me look extremely out of place among the people walking around wearing shirts and jeans. I also had a white purse and white gloves. _If my grandmother could see me now, she'd think I raided her closet_, I thought to myself.

"Hey, princess." One man smirked at me and my eyes widened and I quickly made my way down the sidewalk, my heels clomping a little too hard and loud on the ground. I must've been a sight to see, since I didn't exactly know _how _to walk in heels. A couple of girls snickered as I made my way inside a club. It was packed and a band was up there on the stage.

"Table for one?" a man walked up to me. I looked at him, my eyes wide. I didn't expect to be talking to anyone.

"Uh, no, thank you." I nodded once. "I'll just... I'm waiting on someone..."

The man nodded and walked to help someone else. I walked to the back of the club and crossed my arms, leaning on the wall. After a few moments, the lead singer walked up to the microphone and started singing.

When he did, my eyes widened in realization.

I had heard that voice many times before. I had his music on my phone. Instinctively, I opened my purse to look at my phone before remembering that this was early 1960's and having my phone with me was some kind of foolish dream. I'd have to learn to live without it for a long while. But I knew who it was.

It was Frankie. Frankie fucking Valli. _He's cuter in person_, I thought quietly. Looking around the room to try to find a calendar (I couldn't exactly yank someone by their arm and ask them what year it was); a few things were running through my mind. One was if Frankie and they were famous yet. Another was what year it was, and then the last thing was wondering if I would ever get home.


	2. Meet The Guys

Chapter One

I walked around a little, finding a calendar near the women's bathroom. Late December, 1961. The day, though, I wasn't sure about. I then realized the club had the heater on and that it was a little cold outside. That's why some people were wearing jackets earlier, I figured. Where I'm from, we sometimes don't even get cold during the winter. We get down to the forties – sometimes we hit the teens but it's not every single year – and our high will probably be forty three with a low of like twenty nine or thirty two or something like that.

I looked at the band again. There were only three on the stage. Frankie had stepped from the microphone, and the guitar player had walked up. They were saying their 'goodbyes' to the people at the club.

"On the guitar over there, that's Nick Massi. I'm Tommy DeVito, and over there is Frankie Valli. Thanks for taking your time to come out tonight. Now get lost." Tommy walked away from the microphone as people were clapping for them. I stared at the stage for a moment, wondering what happened to the other guy, who I figured had to be Bob Gaudio, the songwriter. Frankie glanced over at Tommy and nodded his head once at the microphone and mouthed something to him. I saw Tommy mouth something back to him and Frankie rolled his eyes, making his way back to the microphone.

"Also, we have to give a little credit to Bob Gaudio, who had to step off for a second. Good night everyone, have a safe ride home." He stepped away and looked over at Tommy. "It wasn't that hard." He rolled his eyes again and crossed his arms. Bob hurried onstage, nearly bumping into Nick in the process and making the other man glare at him for a moment before going back to putting his stuff up.

"Sorry about that." Bob smiled for half a second before getting his things together.

"Fuckin' klutz..." Nick muttered. Slowly, I found myself walking up to the stage, just a little nervous. I wanted to say I was one of their biggest fans, but since Sherry hadn't even come out yet, it would be just be a little complicated to explain. Tommy was the first to look over. He raised his eyebrows.

"Hi..." I waved nervously, my Texan twang slipping into my voice.

"Hi." Tommy tried to mock the twang, but he wasn't very successful. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed the show tonight..." I smiled a little.

"Thanks, now go on. I'm sure you've got school tomorrow, and I don't think you'd want to disappoint Mommy and Daddy."

"I don't go to school, and I don't care if I do disappoint my parents." I snapped at him. "In fact, I could give a shit less about what they think." I crossed my arms. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bob suppress a laugh and Frankie smiled.

"I like this kid. She's got an attitude." He said quietly.

"Alright, kid—" Tommy started.

I held up my hand. "Stop right there. My name ain't kid. It's Tyler. Tyler Hampton."

"Tyler?"

"Yeah."

"Isn't that a guy's name?"

"Not necessarily." I shake my head.

"Sometimes girls are named Tyler. Just not a lot." Bob said.

"Well that's fucking awesome, Gaudio, thank you for that." Tommy rolled his eyes. Bob shook his head. Frankie sighed, stepping up.

"I'm Frankie." He said, holding out his hand. "Frankie Valli."

"I –" I stopped myself. "It's nice to meet you." I smiled.

"That's Bob Gaudio and over there is Nick Massi."

Nick muttered his response before getting off the stage.

"I'm going home." He said, going to the door.

"Alright, Nicky, I'll see ya in the mornin'." Tommy said, picking up his guitar case.

"Yeah," Nick then left the building. Bob hopped off the stage, holding a black bag as he did so. In my mind, I put two and two together that his songs were in there.

"I'm leaving too." He called out. Tommy grunted in response.

"Be careful out there, supposed to get to below freezing tonight." Frankie told him.

"Who're you, his mother?" Tommy rolled his eyes.

"Hey, I'm just sayin'."

I looked over at Bob and waved at him as he neared the door. Bob gave a quick wave before leaving. Tommy was the next to get off the stage, holding his guitar.

"Warn Mary, I'll be over there around one thirty tomorrow." He said.

"Oh, she'll be so thrilled." Frankie said sarcastically. I tried not to laugh.

"Yeah, well." Tommy walked out the door. I raised my eyebrows once and then messed with my hands.

"I ought to get going too." Frankie's voice was a little lower, since he wasn't talking to any of his band members. "Mary will have a fit if I don't get home early tonight." He walked towards the door. I followed him, figuring I wouldn't be allowed to be in there alone.

"Who's Mary?" I asked, sounding like an idiot.

"My wife." He held the door open for me.

"Oh, I bet she's beautiful." I smiled. At least, I tried. My acting came in pretty handy here. _Why are all the cute ones married?_ I thought to myself.

"She is." Frankie smiled at the thought of her and then shut the door once I was outside. My hands automatically went up to my arms to rub them and to keep them warm, although it didn't help my legs or my feet. He looked at me. "Did you not bring a jacket?"

"No." I shook my head. "I'm from Texas. We don't usually wear jackets this time of year."

"Texas? What the hell are you doin' all the way up here?"

"...Long story."

"You got a place to stay?"

"Nope." I shook my head. Frankie sighed and shook his head for a second.

"Mary's going to kill me for this..." he said, mainly to himself. "C'mon."

"Where're we going?"

"I'm givin' you a place to stay, unless you want to sleep on the cold concrete."

"I'll go with you."

!

Frankie turned the key on the front door lock and opened the door, quickly, looking inside. Almost instantly, there was footsteps on the stairs and a young woman, maybe a couple of years older than Frankie, walked down the stairs. She wore a robe and her brown hair was down, as if she was getting ready for bed.

"About time you got home." She said, walking over to him. "You get home later and later each time, it's starting to make me wonder." That was when she seemed to have finally noticed me. "Who the hell are you? Are you his— Is she your—? Frankie Valli I swear to fucking God...!" the woman started jumping to conclusions.

"What? No!" Frankie shook his head. "No, she just needs a place to stay."

"Does she not have a home of her own?" her voice began to get a little louder.

"No, I don't." I shook my head. "Look, I just got up here from Texas and I don't have a home or anyplace to go."

"Texas?" the woman's big brown eyes got a little bigger. "You like to travel, don't you?"

"It's alright." I shrug. The woman's demeanor softened a little and she nodded.

"I'm Mary, his wife." She emphasized the last word. "We have a spare bedroom upstairs you can sleep in, as long as you don't mind sleeping across from our daughter's room."

"Not at all." I shook my head.

"Come on." Mary ushered me to the stairs and then turned back to Frankie, who was standing there, running a hand through his hair. "We'll talk later."

The two of us got up the stairs and Mary led me to the room she was talking about earlier.

"I'm guessing the only clothes you have is this outfit you have on right here?" she motioned to my outfit.

"Yeah..." my voice was quiet. Mary sighed.

"I'll be back." She left the room. I looked around, sitting on the twin bed that had a soft blue quilt on it. The pillowcases were white, as were the sheets. The room was a little plain, save for a brown dresser and the brown end table next to the bed. The lamp was pink, the only real contrast in the room. Mary soon returned with a nightgown of hers and set it on the bed and then crossed her arms. I looked over at it – a light yellow with white straps, the nightgown looked as if it would probably reach my knees.

"Thank you." I smiled over at the woman kindly. Mary nodded once.

"How old are you?" she raised her eyebrows.

"Seventeen."

"Why are you so far away from home?"

"I had to get away." I lied a little, but it was true. Texas was filled with a lot of memories for me. My parents seemed to hold me back, and I had planned to leave when I graduated high school to go live in Oklahoma with my aunt and uncle. Looks as if that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

"So you're a runaway?"

"I guess so. I mean, technically I am. My parents won't look for me. Trust me, I know." I ran a hand through my hair.

"Look, kid..."

"Tyler." I hated being called 'kid'.

"Tyler... I don't know your story, and I don't want to press you for it. All I'm goin' to say is that if someone's looking for you, and it's the cops—"

"I know what you're going to say..." I stopped her. "But trust me. No one's calling the cops and no one's going to be looking for me. Shit, I'm pretty sure my parents are rejoicing right about now. They don't have any kid for my grandmother to lecture them about. They're probably off, smoking those funny cigarettes and getting drunk, they always do." I trailed off. Mary gave me a one armed hug.

"I'm sorry." She said quietly. "I am. But when you leave, I want you to be careful out there. You're a nice kid."

"How long can I stay?"

"However long I guess." She shrugged. "Just keep your hand offa my husband."

"Don't worry, I only go after available guys."

Mary smiled a little and patted my shoulder once before getting up. "Good night, sleep well. The bathroom's down the hall if you need to use it in the middle of the night."

"Thank you." I said quietly, and Mary left the room, closing the door behind her. I started to get undressed, putting on the nightgown she had loaned me.

!

The next day, I walked down around ten thirty, still wearing the nightgown. My hair was a mess, my makeup just a little smudged around my eyes, and I had a song stuck in my head that hadn't left since last night. It seemed that the only ones awake were Frankie, who was in the living room reading the paper, and Mary, who had the news on the TV.

"Tyler?" Frankie apparently had heard me on the stairs.

"Yeah?" I stifled a yawn and made my way off the stairs and leaned on the wall.

"Good morning. Breakfast is on the table."

"Thank you." I yawned.

"How'd you sleep?"

"Pretty good." I poured myself a cup of coffee and took a drink out of it. "Damn...! That's strong..." I whispered to myself, getting something to eat.

"You might want to put something in the coffee, its strong today." Mary said.

"Thanks for the warning." I muttered. There was a cry from upstairs and I jerked my head up.

"Francine's up..." Mary walked upstairs, shaking her head. "I just got her asleep..."

"That kid's got some lungs." Frankie laughed a little. I smiled, finishing my breakfast. I never ate a lot. I usually ate probably an egg and two pieces of bacon and I was full.

"What do I do with this?" I motioned to my plate.

"You can put it in the sink if you want. I'll wash it later."

I did as told. "I thought Tommy was coming over later."

"He is. We've gotta figure out something."

"What is it?"

"Our contract."

"Oh." I nodded and then ran a hand through my hair. It got stuck for half a second in a tangle but then I got that fixed and, even though my head was throbbing, my hair felt a little better. I started singing a popular song from _my _time (Gone, Gone, Gone by Phillip Phillips) and washed my plate, just trying to be nice. Little did I know, however, is that I was being listened to.

"What song is that?"

I jumped and looked at Frankie, who was still reading his paper but was apparently listening. "What?"

"That song that you were singing."

"Oh. That song." I nodded.

"Yeah. That song." He seemed to be getting a little annoyed.

"It's called... Ah... Gone, Gone, Gone."

"Did you write it?"

My eyes widened and I had to do it to save myself. "Yes. I did." _Please, Phillip Phillips fans don't sue me_, I thought to myself. After all, I couldn't say it was a popular song on the radio. As Doc Brown would say, it would cause a paradox.

"It's good."

"Thank you."

"You've got a good voice too."

I smiled. "Thank you." I tried not to fangirl. Okay, so maybe I was a _little _like some White Girls, but not completely. Suddenly, I thought about something and hurried over to Frankie. "Frankie, can I try out for the band?"

"Can you what?" his eyes widened and he looked at me, not expecting my question.

"Can I try out? Audition for the band? Please? I promise that if I don't get in I won't bother you about it again."

"I've got to talk to the guys about it. I think you're good, but they might not."

"Just... Please?"

"I'll try. I'm sure the others would let you, but I'm not so sure about Tommy. But I'll do my best."

I smiled. Little did I know, however, how much this question would change my life.

A/N: I promise this gets better... I know its moving fast and I guess Tyler seems like a Mary Sue but she's not... I promise it'll get better... It's just really late and I'm writing practically half asleep. Just still... No flames, okay? I'm really, really sensitive and I've had a few reviews actually make me cry, so...


	3. Welcome To The Group

Chapter Two

_Flashback-2014_

_Red Oak High School_

_It was early morning as I walked inside the school. My earbuds in my ears, blasting Can't Take My Eyes Off You, as I walked to the cafeteria. I came about an hour early each day, even though I had late arrival. I walked over to my table and set my bag down. My friends Jenny and Louise sat there, talking about the latest anime that had just come out. _

_I was never an anime person. I watched some of it, and I liked a few, but I never raved about it. I always thought they were stupid and I could never get into them. I was more Family Ties, Taxi, Gilligan's Island, The Waltons kind of person. In short-I enjoyed real acting, not cartoons. _

"_I just... Gahhhh!" Louise jumped a little in her seat, talking about the latest episode._

"_I know! I wanted them to kiss so badly!"_

_I rolled my eyes, singing along quietly to the song as I started writing. Louise looked back and pounded once on the table to get my attention._

"_Hey!"_

"_What?" I looked up._

"_What's got you pissed off?"_

"_Nothing... I was just singing..."_

"_Right..."_

_Louise soon went back to what she was talking about. I started to talk to them about my new movie I was writing. Jenny and Louise ignored me and I soon looked down at my notebook. I felt left out. It was normal- This always happened._

_1961_

I stared at my feet as Frankie and Tommy argued about my being in the band. They had called Bob and Nick over, mainly to vote, and they sat there on the couch and in the chair, listening to the argument. I sat next to Bob on the couch, wearing my dress from last night, messing with my hair. I felt like I was back in high school and my friends were ignoring me.

"Frankie. I'm not going to let some kid that I barely know into the group. She could be a nutzo."

"She's not crazy, Tommy, and she's got a hell of a voice. Just listen to her."

"I'm all for it, I think we should listen to her." Bob nodded.

"Hey, hey." Tommy turned to him. "Am I speakin' to you? You'll know when I'm speakin' to you." He turned back to Frankie. "She gets one chance. She blows it, and she ain't in the group."

"Seems fair." Frankie nodded once. "Tyler, you wanna sing for them?"

"Now?" My eyes widened.

"Well, I don't know when else."

I stood slowly as Frankie took my spot on the couch. I stood there for a second, trying to think of a song. I bit my lip before shutting my eyes. I could hear the music in my head, and I was just waiting for the singing part to start. I opened my eyes.

"Do you guys have a guitar?"

"I don't." Bob shook his head.

"Not with me." Nick flicked the ashes off his cigarette. Tommy rolled his eyes, obviously impatient. Frankie shook his head.

"Just go for it, you'll do fine."

I nodded. Slowly, I started to sing. I sang Ed Sheeran's I See Fire, since I was also a huge LOTR/Hobbit nerd.

"_If this is to end in fire_

_Then we should all burn together_

_Watch the flames climb high into the night_

_Calling out father oh_

_Stand by and we will_

_Watch the flames burn auburn on_

_The mountain side_

_And if we should die tonight_

_Then we should all die together_

_Raise a glass of wine for the last time_

_Calling out father oh_

_Prepare as we will_

_Watch the flames burn auburn on_

_The mountain side_

_Desolation comes upon the sky_

_Now I see fire_

_Inside the mountain_

_I see fire_

_Burning the trees_

_And I see fire_

_Hollowing souls_

_I see fire_

_Blood in the breeze_

_And I hope that you remember me."_

I stopped and saw that, for the first time since I saw him, Nick had a smile of approval on his face. Bob was leaning forward in his seat, his hands covering his mouth in concentration, his eyes shut. Frankie looked a little interested into the song, his eyebrows knit together. Tommy was leaning back in his seat, relaxing, staring at the coffee table, his eyes shut.

"That's an interesting song." Frankie said.

"Yeah... Yeah, it sounds better with an instrument." I ran a hand through my hair. "It was written for the Hobbit."

"Is that that weird book where this guy goes on this adventure with twelve or thirteen other people?" Bob asked. His eyes were still shut, but he was alert.

"Yeah... It's good."

"So what do you guys think?" Frankie stood and stood next to me. "Pretty good, right?"

"She's good. Could use a little work but, we can help her with that." Nick nodded. Bob opened his eyes, nodding in agreement.

"I'm with Nick. Besides, it'd be nice to not be the only writer in this group." He smiled a little at me. I smiled back and looked down.

"And I think that with the proper training and time, she'll be great." Frankie put his arm around me. "Tommy?"

"What?" Tommy raised his eyebrows at him.

"Your verdict?"

Tommy sighed. "You're good kid. But like everyone said, you need work." He grabbed one of his cigarettes. "Nick, Bob, Frankie, come with me." He nodded his head to the kitchen and stood. The three followed him into the kitchen and gathered around in a group and started talking in hushed tones. I paced a little, my hands shaking. After what seemed like an eternity, Tommy approached me.

"Well?" I bit my lip.

"You're in."

I squealed and hugged him tightly and Tommy's eyes widened, hugging me back slowly (I'm sure he wasn't expecting that). I saw Frankie quickly look upstairs, hoping that his daughter didn't start crying. He stared upstairs for a full minute or so until he was satisfied that Francine wasn't going to start crying.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." I giggled and pulled away from the hug.

"Yeah..." Tommy nodded once. "Look, show business is a funny thing. You need anything, you come to me. Got it?"

"Got it." I smiled. Tommy patted me on the shoulder once and then sat down again. He looked me over and shook his head.

"You need to get some more clothes."

"I don't have any money..." I looked down. Tommy shook his head, stood, and took his wallet out of his pocket. He opened it and my eyes widened. He took out a good amount and put it in my hand.

"Here. Get yourself a new wardrobe." He sighed and walked over to the fridge, taking out the orange juice. Frankie looked at him.

"Seriously?"

"What?"

"Ask next time."

Tommy rolled his eyes, getting a glass down.

!

"Yes?"

"No."

I sighed and threw the dress on the ground. Mary crossed her arms.

"I'm sorry, but yellow is not flattering on you." She took a drag on her cigarette.

"Then what? I've tried on like seven dresses."

"Not this one." Mary handed me a dark blue dress. I sigh and go back into the changing room, coming back a minute or so later.

"Well?"

"Yes." Mary nodded. "Definitely."

I smiled softly.

!

"Who?"

"Tyler Hampton."

"Who the hell is Tyler Hampton?"

I pushed through Bob and Tommy, and there sat Bob Crewe with a confused look on his face. His eyebrows shot up after he saw that I was a girl and not a guy.

"I'm Tyler Hampton."

"I see..." Crewe put his hands together, thinking. "And you just added her into the band?"

"Yesterday." Frankie nodded.

"Is she good?" These were standard questions of course. Crewe wasn't speaking in a rude tone, more of a curious one. That I respected.

"She's great."

"She just needs a little practice." Bob added.

"Alright." Crewe nodded. "Welcome to the group." He smiled at me. I grinned.

Things seemed to be looking up.


	4. Lessons

Chapter Three

A few days after I joined the Four Seasons, Bob and I started to hang out a little bit more. Each night, one of the guys would give me vocal lessons, giving me a very different and diverse range. The best nights were with Bobby. We were both two of the youngest in the group and connected easier. The toughest on me was Tommy, but I believe that was because he was a tough guy in general. Frankie was really sweet to me, and even though Mary would yell at us from upstairs to quiet down from time to time, and I looked forward to our sessions. Nicky was nice, but he was firm. He gave the most tough love, which I really appreciated.

Bob was just nice about it in general. Somehow, we'd always get off topic at some point and start saying random things and laughing about it.

I was over at his house. It had been a few weeks, almost a month, after I joined the band. Bobby usually had a little piano in his room that he wrote his songs on, but he always brought it out into the living room for us to practice on.

"A little higher." He hit a higher key. I raised my voice a little more, praying it didn't crack like it did the night before with Tommy. It strained a little and Bobby winced and shook his head. "Okay, that's too high." He laughed a little.

"Yeah, I think so." I smiled. I remembered something and hopped up quickly. "Before I forget!" I hurried over to my purse. Bob looked at me, his eyebrows furrowed.

"What're you doing?"

"Just... Wait. Wait." I snatched a book wrapped in brown paper with a single string with a little bow tied around it out of my purse before hurrying back over and sitting next to him. "Here."

"What is this?"

"Open it."

Bob took the book from me and untied the string and tore the wrapping off. Automatically he started laughing, the smile brightening up his whole face.

I bought him The Hobbit.

He had a nice laugh. I liked it. His eyes glistened a little as he looked at me.

"Thank you. This is cool."

"Read it, you'll enjoy it."

"I intend to."

We sat there for a little while and then I started to play a few notes on the piano. I tried playing Earth Angel, but that obviously didn't work out very well.

"No, no, no, no, no. That's wrong."

"I'm not a piano player, Mr. Gaudio. I don't know about the keys." I smiled jokingly. Bob started playing, singing quietly to it.

"_Earth Angel,_

_Earth Angel,_

_Will you be mine?_

_My darling dear,_

_Love you all the time._

_I'm just a fool,_

_A fool in love with you_."

I smiled at his voice. It was pretty, but it wasn't like Frankie's. But I really did like it. It was beautiful.

"_Earth Angel,_" I joined in the singing, smiling softly.

"_Earth Angel,_

_The one I adore,_

_Love you forever_

_And evermore._

_I'm just a fool,_

_A fool in love with you_."

He started singing again and I giggled quietly before going back to the song.

"_I fell for you_

_And I knew_

_The vision of your love, loveliness._

_I hope and I pray_

_That someday_

_I'll be the vision of your hap, happiness._"

Bob stopped playing the piano and cleared his throat. I ran a hand through my hair and messed with the end of my white skirt.

"I think that concludes our vocal training for today."

"Yeah. Yeah, I think... Yeah, it does. Good session."

"Yeah. You're doing a lot better."

"Thanks." I smile.

"I'll... I'll walk you to the door."

"Okay." I smile again and stand, grabbing my purse. I walked towards the door, Bobby behind me.

"So, I'll see you next Tuesday?"

I turned and smiled at him. "Yeah, next Tuesday." I nod.

"Thanks for the book."

"Oh, hey, anytime."

"I'll start on it tonight."

"Glad to hear it." I smile softly and nod again. "Let me know."

"I will. I'll even give you a book report."

I giggled. "I'm looking forward to it." We sat there for a moment, as if we didn't want to look away from each other. A car honked and both of us jumped. "Well... Ah... I guess I gotta go."

"Yeah, yeah."

I smiled and then walked down the sidewalk. I heard the door shut quietly before I turned the corner.

!

On Wednesday, I made my way to Frankie's. My mind was still going through the events of last night. I knocked on the door and it opened a few seconds later. There stood Mary with her hair disheveled and a crying Francine in her arms.

"Frankie!" she yelled and walked around, trying to calm her daughter down. "Tyler's here!"

"Just a second!"

Mary sighed quietly. "I'll be upstairs." She started for the stairs.

"Do you need help calming her down?"

"No, I got it. She's really tired, I just can't get her to sleep." She goes up a few stairs. "Make sure you stay quiet!"

"We always do!" I walk inside and shut the door.

"Tyler! Wait in the living room!" I heard Frankie's voice from the other room.

"Okay!"

I walked into the living room and sat on the couch. I relaxed a little and crossed my ankles, shutting my eyes.

"Alright." I heard Frankie walk into the room. "Here we go. This is what I wanted to practice tonight." He sat next to me and I opened my eyes.

"What's this?"

"This song is one that I've been singing forever." He smiled softly. "I actually broke into a church to sing this. Nick played the organ." I giggled quietly. "Alright. I want you to sing this with no music. Just like you did that one time."

"Okay." I nod. I heard the cries of Francine soon get quiet.

"Finally." Frankie sighed. "She's been crying all day."

"At least she's asleep." I took the sheet music.

"_I want a _

_Sunday kind of love_

_A love to last_

_Past Saturday night_

_And I've got to know_

_It's more than love at first sight_

_I want a Sunday kind of love_."

"_I want a love that's on the square,_" Frankie joined in.

"_Can't seem to find somebody,_

_Someone to care_

_And I'm on a lonely road_

_That leads me nowhere_

_I need a Sunday kind of love_."

We joined our voices together. As we sang, I couldn't help but think of Bobby.

"_I do all my_

_Sunday dreaming and_

_All my Sunday scheming_

_Every minute_

_Every hour_

_Every day_

_And I'm hoping to discover_

_A certain kind of lover_

_Who will show_

_Me the way_,"

"_My arms need_

_Someone to enfold_

_To keep me warm_." Frankie sang.

"_When those Mondays and Tuesdays grow cold_."

Our voices came together again.

"_I want a Sunday_

_Kind of love_."

I smiled softly, and I felt my cheeks grow hot.

"You're blushing." Frankie smirked.

"Sorry, I was just thinking."

"About...?"

"You're nosy, aren't you?" I teased.

"Only when I wanna be."

"Well. I'm not going to tell you unless it becomes a thing, and I doubt it will. So there." I stuck my tongue out. Frankie laughed quietly.

!

"No, no, no, no, no. That's too high. Go a little lower." Nick shook his head.

"Sorry." I messed with my jeans.

"You're so off tonight, what's up?" he leaned on his bookcase.

"Oh, I'm just... Just thinking." I could hear Bobby's laughter again and I couldn't help but grin.

"What's that about?"

"Nothing." I smiled.

!

"Hey. Hey! Hampton! Get out of la-la land!"

I snapped out of my thoughts when I saw Tommy's hand in front of my face.

"What?"

"We need to get back to business." He strummed his guitar a little. "Now," he strummed a note. I sang a little. He strummed a higher one and I raised my voice a little. We continued this until my voice cracked. "Too high." He nodded. Well at least I was learning my range.

!

"Ready?" Crewe's voice came over the speaker.

"Yeah, we're ready." Tommy sighed. The person we were singing for started as we harmonized the vocals in the background. No, this isn't what I imagined what it would be like. But as we harmonized, Bobby and I couldn't help but look over at each other for time to time.


	5. The Name

A/N: Now going with the movie! Enjoy!

Chapter Four

It was also around this time that Tommy was beginning to get a little annoyed with Crewe.

"Billy Dixon and the Topix. "Trance." Take three." Said a man at the microphone. I don't really blame Tommy. I also wanted to start on our own stuff. The music started and Billy Dixon began his singing.

"_Late last night_

_Strolling down the street,_" here, we started our backup singing.

"_I saw a ghost that—_" Nick added in his own personal touch and Crewe about had a shitfit.

"Stop the tape!" he snapped and all of us stopped. I sighed quietly. Jesus this was going to be a long day. "You guys are not hearing it like I do." Crewe spoke a lot with his hands, the gestures a little...well...feminine. It was alright where I came from but in late 1961, well... You can guess.

"I'm sorry, Crewe." Tommy stepped forward. "How do you hear it?"

"Well, I'm hearing it in sky blue. You're giving me brown." Crewe held up his hands a little to show the sky blue, and when he said brown he brought them down to rest on the surface in front of him.

"Maybe that's because you're paying us shit."

My eyes widened. "Tommy..."

He turned to me. "Well, you got anything better to say? Say it, Hampton, I'm curious." When I kept my mouth shut, Tommy turned back to Crewe, who didn't look too happy.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry. Famous ears clogged up? I'll say it into the mike." Tommy then walked to the microphone above us and stood up on his toes a little. His right hand held a cigarette, the smoke blowing my way and making me cough a little. "Maybe because you're paying us fucking shit." He stepped down and Crewe shook his head a few times.

"Is there a problem, Tommy?"

"Yeah. There's a problem."

"Okay, let's see what the goddamn problem is..." Crewe's words died off as he left the recording room.

"We got his attention, he's coming down."

"You shouldn't have been so rude..." I said quietly.

"Well how else was I supposed to get his ass in here?" Tommy snapped and smiled smugly. "It's about fucking time."

The door swung open, and Crewe burst into the room.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are our sessions cutting into your time at the track?"

"Let me tell you what the problem is—" Tommy started but Bobby put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hold on, hold on. Wait, wait, wait, wait." He turned to Crewe. "Here's the problem: You said you'd record us. That was, like, a year ago. Come on. When are you going to record us?"

"When you give me a hit." Crewe told him simply.

"I've given you ten hits."

"Ten _songs_, and they're all derivative."

"What about mine?" I raised my eyebrows. Crewe shook his head.

"They're good. They are. But I'll be honest with you, they need a little tweaking. Until then, I'm not recording you." He shook his head. My shoulders sagged and I sighed quietly. "Look. You find yourselves a name and a _sound _and then maybe we can make something happen."

"How do you know what's a hit until you get it out there?" Tommy interjected.

"Okay, okay, okay, okay." Crewe sighed. "You want me to produce four songs? _Get me the money_."

"What are you talking about?"

"I am tapped out, baby." At this, Bobby groaned a little and walked a few steps away. "You want a session, it's gonna cost you $3500."

"Eight rooms on Park Avenue and he's tapped out." Tommy smirked.

"_Ten_, Sam Spade." Crewe corrected. "And I've got certain personal obligations."

"Yeah. No, I saw him."

At this, Crewe's defense shot up. "Don't get me started, baby." He looked over at Billy. "Perfect." And with that, he walked out of the room. Tommy looked at the lead singer behind the glass.

"Could use a little more color."

"Thanks a lot. Pleasure working with you." Billy nodded.

"Yeah, maybe... Maybe powder blue. Royal blue." Tommy followed us out as we left. "Bullshit..."

!

We waited outside of a bowling alley as Joey Pesci (or, Joe Pesci to you _My Cousin Vinny _and _Lethal Weapon _fans out there) was inside, talking things over to the manager. We all waited at Tommy's car, me running my hands through my hair.

"Crewe's right about one thing." Tommy said. "Your songs are derivative."

"Really?" Bob looked at him. I placed my hand on his arm and he jumped a little but relaxed quickly. He didn't move his arm and I saw his cheeks grow a little redder in the dim light.

"What? You don't think I don't know what that means? It means they all sound like each other."

"Alright, Tommy, lay off. Let Bob and Tyler write the songs, you make the bookings, okay?" Frankie snapped. Tommy automatically shut up as Joey walked over.

"Okay, okay, okay. I talked to the manager. You do two sets. It's a cool $350 a night." As he spoke, the five of us crowded around him in a semicircle. "Ten nights, you got your session. And I'm only gonna take five percent." At this, I raised an eyebrow. Tommy stared at him.

"What?"

"Or not. Joking." Joey shrugged.

"How about it?"

"Let's do it." Said Nick.

"Good."

"Uh..." Bob started. He seemed to forget what he was going to say. "Okay."

"It's good." Joey patted him on the back as we got our stuff out of the car.

We walked inside, the noise of the bowling pins the first thing we hear. After that, it was the pop music on the jukebox. The manager looked at us, a cigarette in his hand.

"Hey, wait, wait, wait." He walked up to Tommy, who had his eyebrows furrowed. "What's your name?"

"The Romans."

"The Topix."

"The Variatones."

"The Topix."

Frankie, Nick, Bobby, and I all spoke together. Apparently, Nick liked the Topix.

"The Five Lovers." Tommy said.

"No, no, no." The manager shook his head. "You. I know you. You used to come in here. You had some kind of scam going. Spotting pins and betting on the games."

"Oh shit." My eyes widened. I saw Bobby's eyebrows shoot up. Joey, who walked in with us, acted confused. There's that acting coming in handy.

"I've never been here before in my life." Tommy defended himself.

"I never forget a face." The manager snapped. "Get out, all of you. Come on, let's go." We stood there for a moment, not quite sure of what to do. "Come on, before Jesus gets back. Let's go. Move."

And with that, we began to leave. I turned back to look at him.

"You're a real prick, you know that? A real fucking prick." I snapped.

"Get over it, girl."

"You have the memory like an elephant..." Tommy muttered.

"I don't need a band, I got a jukebox."

"Someday we'll be on that fucking jukebox."

"I'm not gonna hire you, I got no slots left. The Five Lovers... You look like the Five Felons."

"You're an ass!" I yelled back at him before the door shut.

"That went well." Nick didn't sound too happy.

"Hey, Joey, you're a real prick." Tommy snapped.

"This is crazy. We gotta find a club." Frankie shook his head.

"Forget about the clubs, what we want is a record contract." Bobby said.

"Hey, Joey, don't take Tommy's words to heart, alright?" I whispered to him.

"I never do. He's an idiot." Joey made sure his voice was low so Tommy didn't wail on him. We both smiled and held in our laughs. Tommy, apparently, didn't hear us. He was responding to Bobby's comment.

"What contract? We can't even book a lousy bowling alley."

Nick opened the trunk. "Maybe this is a good time for me to start my own group."

"You're not starting any groups. You're in this group, Nicky."

"Yeah? Which one? The Topix, the Romans? The Lovers? Who we gonna be next, Tommy?"

Electricity crackled and the sign to the bowling alley lit up a little brighter, the burnt out letters springing to life.

"Frankie." Joey said. Everyone, except Tommy, looked up at the sign. 'Four Seasons Lanes' it read.

"What?" Tommy looked at all of us before following our gaze.

"It's a sign, Tommy." Frankie looked at him and then back at the sign.

"Ooh." Tommy didn't seem too impressed and walked to the driver's seat. "I still like the Five Felons."

"Yeah, but we still need that $3500." Bob said quickly.

"Don't worry about it, alright?" Tommy walked away from the door. "I'll take care of it. That's what I do. Now, you two just write us a goddamn hit." He looked at one of the instruments. "Put that in the trunk." He got in. "Come on!"

"Tommy," I looked through the passenger window. "I'll just be walking home."

"Suit yourself, kid." Tommy shook his head and started the car as the others got in.

"Why are you walking?" Bobby looked confused.

"I like walking."

"At ten o'clock at night?"

"Well..."

I could see he was beginning to be protective. "Tommy, I'm walking with her."

"Have fun." I could hear sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"You two be careful, alright?" Frankie raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, don't do anything stupid." Nick added.

"Do we ever?" I shook my head, and Bob and I walked off.

!

"So do you walk home every night?"

"Just about, I don't own a car."

Bob and I walked side by side. We weren't too far from my house now, maybe ten minutes.

"Why not?"

"Just don't have the money for it." I shrugged. "That and I never learned to drive."

Bob looked a little taken aback. "Well... I teach you, if you want."

I smiled. "I'd like that."

Our hands brushed against each other and I saw his eyes widen and look up and to the right, while I just turned a deep red. I bit my lip a little and linked my arm with his. He didn't pull away or anything but he looked at me. "Never have a girl on your arm before?" I teased slightly.

"No, actually." He laughed a little.

"Well, there's a first for everything." I smiled at him. We walked the rest of the way in silence and then got to my house. We walked up the steps and stood on the tiny porch, still arm in arm. After a second or so, we pulled away.

"Well, we're here." Bob put his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah." I nodded. "What time do you want me to come over to help you with those songs?"

"Ten sound good, or is that...?"

"No, ten is perfect." I smiled.

"Good." He smiled again. "So I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

"Okay."

We stood there for a second, not knowing whether we should hug or just split ways. Finally, Bobby kissed me on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow." He smiled and started down the steps. He turned back once and waved and I waved back, and as he turned away, I felt the blush creep up onto my cheeks. My hand gently touched where he kissed me on my cheek.

I haven't felt like this in a while.


	6. Sherry

Chapter Five

So, for two days Bobby and I locked ourselves in his room, morning till night, writing four songs (that Bobby was more than sure were to become hits). Now, we were in one of Crewe's many penthouses that he owned, talking to him.

"So, you like the new name?" Frankie asked.

"I love the new name." Crewe flashed a smile.

"Alright."

"And so did Vivaldi." He poured himself something to drink.

"What? Who?" Tommy's temper began to flare. "What? Some guy stole our name? I'll go talk to him."

"It's okay, Tommy." Crewe laughed a little. "He's already dead."

"What about the songs?" Bob walked away from the piano.

"The songs? I love the songs. The songs are great." I giggled excitedly and hugged Bobby's arm. "But, we still have a problem." At this point, Nick walked over.

"What?" Tommy asked. "The _scarols_?" the last word was in Italian, I'm sure. "Here." He pulled out a large amount of cash and slammed it down on the bar. "It's $3500. DeVito delivers. Fuck Vivaldi."

Crewe, who at this point was counting the cash, looked up at him and picked up his cup.

"I'll drink to that." He smiled, taking a drink of whatever it was he was drinking.

!

On the day of our session, a last minute song came into Bob's head. He said it was just a little tune, but for some reason he just couldn't get it out on paper. During those days, 1961 turned into 1962, since I arrived after Christmas.

Now, I knew it was time.

"Tyler, I just..." He let out a loud groan of frustration. "I can't get it out of my head. I can't put it on paper, and that tune is driving me up the walls."

"Well... Maybe you should get a pencil first." I suggested. Bobby stared at his hand for half a second, apparently thinking he already had a pencil in it, before looking around and picking it up from the floor. He started to write, but what he was writing was the opening of the music, it wasn't words.

"I can't think of anything to go with this..." he sighed. "Maybe I should just scrap it."

"No!" I spoke a little too fast, but I wouldn't let him scrap one of the biggest songs of his career. Bobby's eyes widened half a second.

"Okay..." he stared back at the sheet music. I rubbed his back.

"Something will come to you." I smiled softly and played a random note on the piano. I continued, playing the same note a couple of times before he laid his hand over mine, mainly to make me stop. But, instead, it sent butterflies flying away in my stomach. I looked over at him, and Bob had this look on his face that I couldn't make out. The next thing I knew, his lips were on mine. It was a little klutzy, but he soon got the hang of it. I kissed back, after a moment of shock, and then we pulled away.

"Well... Well... Um..." Bob stammered.

"Bobby."

'What?"

"Shut up."

I pulled him into another kiss, this one a little better than the last. I placed a hand on his cheek gently, tilting my head a little. I was planning on deepening it but the alarm clock went off, loudly, almost like an obnoxious bell. We pulled away, both of us furrowing our eyebrows before Bob's eyes widened in realization.

"Shit! We gotta go!"

We hopped up quickly and I grabbed the sheet music as the two of us ran out the door and down to the bus stop.

!

After sitting down and catching our breath, Bob just began writing. He wrote like a madman. That pencil flew across the paper so fast, you could barely see it. He muttered to himself at times, thinking things over in his head. The song was complete. Harmonies, notes and lyrics were written. All it needed was a title.

"You got anything?" he looked at me.

"For what?" I looked back.

"For the song. Like a title or something."

"Oh, no." I shook my head, and kept my mouth shut. Total and complete utter lie. But Bob Gaudio was the writer of Sherry. I believe he picked the title, and I intended to keep it that way. Bobby began to stare into space, thinking things over in his head. Finally, I heard it.

"Let me see... "Sherry"." He quickly wrote the title down, a little smile on his face.

"Sherry?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Sherry." He smiled and looked at me. "That's the name, and I'm not changing it." He looked out the window once and his eyes widened. "Oh, shit!" he yanked on the cord above the seat. "Stop!"

A few seconds later, at the next bus stop, the driver stopped and let us off.

"Why didn't you warn me?" Bob muttered. "I'm not mad, but..."

"I wasn't paying attention...!" we hurried off the bus.

"Well, come on. Let's just... Let's run. We're already late as is."

"Right."

And off we ran, down the sidewalk. A piece of paper flew from Bob's hand and I quickly picked it up, running after him once more. Not five minutes later, we were at Frankie's house, bursting through the door.

"Hey!" Bob was out of breath, as was I. "Here's the song."

"What is this?" Tommy snatched it from his hands. "Are you kidding me? He comes in with a piece of paper he wrote fifteen minutes ago!" While he spoke, Frankie was leaning over the couch, trying to get the song from Tommy. I let him have one page, indicating that it was the last one. He nodded, mouthed 'Thanks' and continued to reach for the rest of the song.

"Gimme." Frankie took the song from him and looked it over. "This looks like it'd be good, Tommy."

"No, it's an insult, Frankie! It's a slap in the face!"

"It's not his fault, Tommy. He just thought of it today. Give him a break." I crossed my arms.

Tommy just looked at me. "Why do you always take his side? You always take his..." His eyes widened and he looked at us. "Are you two...?" he started laughing, of course it was more like mocking. "Holy shit! No! Are you...?"

"Are we what?" Bob snapped.

"A thing? Exclusive? Boyfriend/Girlfriend?"

"You could say that."

"Not gonna last..." Tommy shook his head, a mocking smirk on his face. Frankie shook his head.

"Don't take it personal. It looks like a good song."

"No, I will take it personal. I'm on the hook for this!"

Frankie handed Nicky the music. Nick held up his hands.

"We do the four we rehearsed."

"We're not taking votes here, alright? _I_ run the group!" Tommy snapped.

"Hey! Wait, wait, wait, wait! We don't have enough time." Frankie turned to him. "Crewe's got the ears, right? So let's let him decide." He walked over to his phone.

"Crewe's gonna tell you the same thing. You put me in a real pinch, Frankie."

Frankie handed the song to Bobby as he dialed Crewe's number. Bobby held the song and turned to Tommy.

"Look, you got another song?" he shook his head. "Come on, let's just try it."

"I don't _now_." Tommy rolled his eyes and the five of us huddled into a group after Frankie had the number dialed.

"Alright, let's see..." Bob thought for a second. "I'll take the bottom."

"Middle?" Tommy looked at him.

"Hey, uh, Crewe." Frankie started talking. "I'm sorry we're late, but we got something for ya, alright?"

"_Right now_?" I heard Crewe's voice over the line. Bob was showing us how the song was supposed to go, with the tune and what not with a little head bobbing and slight hand waving.

"No, just listen. Just listen." Frankie held the phone out. "Here we go."

"One, two, three, four..." Nick started snapping and then the five of us began to sing.

"_Sherry_

_Sherry baby_

_Sherry_

_Sherry baby_

_Sherry can you come out tonight_?"

"What does he think?" Bob asked hurriedly. Frankie put the phone back up to his ear.

"That's good, right? Right, Crewe?" he asked.

"_Get over here now_." Was the reply.

"We'll be right over."


	7. The Success

Chapter Six

We recorded Sherry, and after we released it, it was almost like the world exploded.

Every time you turned on a radio, we were on there. One guy even played it for a whole day straight! I remember hearing it a few days before we were on _American Bandstand_, which was probably this generation's version of MTV (the good one, not the shitty 2000's MTV. I'm talking the one that was strictly music).

"_You're listening to me, Barry Belson, WCFA Radio! We're in our 17__th__ hour being locked inside the studio, and yes... We're still playing the same song! I mean, is that a different sound or what? Who are these people? Five black guys? Three guys and two girls? What can I say? I love this record! Ha-ha-ha! Whoo! We're gonna see this one go right to the top, my friends! And we're gonna see it happen this Saturday on _American Bandstand. _Oh, what the hey, I'm gonna play it again. So put down that girl and lend an ear to The Four Seasons_!" Barry laughed once more.

That Saturday, I remember feeling anxious. The guys had one dressing room together, while I was given a separate one, since I was female. Frankie and the guys wore black slacks, dress shoes, socks, and bowties with a white shirt and red jackets. I wore a red dress with a black slash in the middle that tied in the back as a bow, black buttons, and black trimming on the top, my heels also being black. I walked out to where the guys were getting their hair done by professional hair stylists. I gotta say, they looked very good. I sat in my chair that was next to Bobby, who was apparently somewhere else at the moment, and Crewe, having talked to everyone else, walked over to me.

"How you doing, Tyler? You nervous?"

"Crewe..." I shook my head, trying not to let him see my hands, which shook violently in my lap. "I have never been this nervous in my life. Now, when I was doing live plays that was a different story, but this is live TV." I looked at him and a stylist hurried over to me, fixing my hair the way it should go. "What if I screw up?"

"Tyler. You're a great performer, and you've got a beautiful voice. You're very mature for your age and you get right down to business. I promise you, once you start performing, you'll forget the whole audience is out there. Trust me." He stopped for a second. "Red looks amazing on you by the way."

"Think so?"

"I know so. Bobby's going to lose it when he sees you, honey, trust me."

"Turn your head this way please, Ms. Hampton."

I turned my head a little to the right, just like the woman wanted me to.

"How long do we have until we go on?" I asked.

"Fifteen minutes, I believe." Crewe looked at his watch. "Unless this useless thing has stopped again." He shook his wrist a little and looked at the clock. "Thirteen minutes, actually, my watch is two minutes off." I tried to hide my fright, but Crewe saw through it. "Don't worry about a thing, you'll be amazing up there. I'll go on and let you get ready." He smiled softly and left my side. The woman finished with my hair, which looked a little like it did the way it was when I first got here over a month ago, just a bit longer. She did my make up, giving me light brown eye shadow and liquid black eyeliner that made a little wing at the end, and a little mascara that made my eyes pop. I had slight blush, giving my cheeks a soft pink tint and made my lips dark red with lipstick. She stopped and smiled.

"You look beautiful."

"Thank you." I smiled back at her and the woman hurried off to do something else. I looked around, biting the inside of my mouth. I stopped when I felt blood and grimaced a little. There was a tap on my right shoulder and I looked over it. I saw no one and then looked over my right shoulder and saw Bobby in his seat, getting his hair fixed a little more. I smiled softly. "Hi."

"Hey." Bobby grinned. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you." I blushed a little as Frankie returned to his seat. He looked at me for a minute.

"Is that Tyler?"

"Frankie..." I tried not to laugh.

"I swear to God it looks like her, but different."

"Frankie, stop!" I giggled. Frankie smiled a little.

"Doesn't she look beautiful?" Bobby couldn't stop grinning.

"She does." Frankie nodded. "Red's your color."

"Thanks." I laughed a bit.

"Four Seasons five minutes!" a man called. Tommy and Nicky walked over, fixing their jackets. Bobby and Frankie stood, doing the same. I stood, making my dress less wrinkled. Bobby leaned down a little.

"You nervous?" he whispered.

"Yeah." I whispered back and nodded my head.

"Me too." He stood back up, and I took his hand. I saw Tommy glance over and refrain from rolling his eyes.

"Try not to have so much PDA, okay?"

"Whatever, Tommy." I rolled my eyes.

"Did you just whatever me?" His eyebrows shot up and his temper began to flare. "Don't you do that again, Tyler Hampton, or—"

"You're on!" a woman hissed at us. We hurried to our spots onstage and either went behind our microphone (in my and Frankie's case) or to our instruments. _Sherry _began to play, and almost automatically I saw the people in the crowd begin to dance. We all began to sing.

"_Sherry_

_Sherry baby_

_Sherry_

_Sherry baby_

_Sherry_

_Sherry baby_."

"_Baby_." Here, Frankie began to take the lead.

"_Sherry baby_."

"_Sherry, can you come out tonight_?"

"_Come, come,_

_Come out tonight_."

"_Sherry baby_."

"_Sherry baby_."

"_Sherry, can you come out tonight_?"

"_Why don't you come out_?" Nicky's deep voice sang. I smiled, the nervousness going out.

"_Come out_." The rest of us sang.

"_To my twist party_." Frankie sang.

"_Come out_."

"_Where the bright moon shines_."

"_Come out_."

"_We'll dance the night away_

_I'm gonna make you_

_Mine_

_You better ask your mama_."

"_Sherry baby_."

"_Tell her everything is alright_."

"_Why don't you come out_?"

"_Come out_."

"_With your red dress on."_

"_Come out_."

"_Mm, you look so fine_." Frankie shook his hips a little, and I suppressed a giggle. He turned to me and dipped me once before twirling me back to my microphone.

"_Come out_."

"_Move it nice and easy_." The five of us jumped in unison. Do I know why? No. Just the choreography called for it. "_Girl, you make me lose my mind_!"

Then we sang together again.

"_Sherry_."

"_Sherry baby_."

"_Baby_."

"_Sherry baby_."

"_Sherry can you come out tonight_?"

"_Come, come_

_Come out tonight_."

"_Come out tonight_."

"_Come, come_." Our voices melted together again. "_Come out tonight_."

"_Sherry_." Frankie sang.

"_Come, come_

_Come out tonight_."

"_Sherry, baby_."

"_Come, come_."

"_Sherry_."

"_Come out tonight_."

"_Sherry baby_."

"_Come_."

I swear to God that was the longest note I ever held in my life. When the song was over, the audience lost it and automatically stood, clapping and cheering. The five of us stepped left one time from where we were and bowed.


	8. Big Girls Don't Cry

Chapter Seven

A few weeks later, we were up in one of Crewe's many penthouses once again. Tommy walked in with some food.

"Hey." He said.

"Hey." Bobby greeted, glumly.

"What's going on? You got the song?"

"No, not yet. Not yet." Crewe sat on his couch. Bobby threw a paper wad at Tommy, who stopped in his tracks and watched it roll for a second before sitting down.

"What've you guys been doing? It's been three weeks. The company's going nuts."

"So what's in the bag?" Bobby sat up a little.

"Chinese. Gotta eat to work." Tommy began to open the bag. Crewe almost automatically shot up from his position on the couch.

"Oh, my gosh! Shush, shush, shush! Bobby, Tyler. Come here, come here!" he ushered us over. Bobby and I were now exclusive, being seen in public going on dates, making the press go wild. I loved to mess with them. Standing, Bobby and I left the piano and sat down on the couch next to Crewe. "_Ace in the Hole_. Kirk Douglas. Jan Sterling. God, I love Jan Sterling."

"Come on, what're you guys doin', eh? Working or watching the tube?" Tommy snapped.

"Shh... Shh..." Crewe waved his hand to make him shut up. "Tommy, come on."

Tommy looked at Crewe's maid or house guy or whatever the hell the man was. "Get forks." He said, and the man hurried off into the kitchen.

""I feel like smiling."" Crewe quoted.

"_I feel like smiling_." Said Jan Sterling's character.

"_You heard me. Get it off_." Snapped Kirk Douglas.

""Make me."" Crewe quoted again.

"That's right." Tommy muttered.

"Watch this." Crewe grinned. Jan Sterling walked up to Kirk, a grin on her face.

"_Make me_." Her tone was playful.

"Oh, he will," Crewe muttered. Kirk smacked Jan twice, once on each cheek.

"Oh!" the four of us exclaimed, and Tommy started laughing. Bobby flinched and I quickly covered my cheeks. Crewe was holding up his hand, much like I do when _Good Morning, Vietnam _is on and I want people to shut up.

"Watch, I bet you she cries." Tommy laughed. Crewe barely shook his head.

"No, big girls don't cry."

At this, Bobby stared at him with wide eyes. I couldn't help but smirk.

!

"_Big girls don't cry_." We sang. We wore similar outfits to the ones on American bandstand, except the jackets were almost like a chocolate brown and my dress was black.

"_Big girls_," Frankie sang. "_Don't cry_."

"_They don't cry_." We sang.

"_Big girls don't cry_."

"_Who said they don't cry_?"

"_My girl said 'Goodbye'_."

"_My oh my_."

"_My girl didn't cry_."

"_I wonder why_."

"_Silly boy_." Nicky sang.

"_Told my girl we had to break up_." Frankie sang.

"_Silly boy_."

"_Hoped that she would call my bluff_."

"_Silly boy_."

"_Then she said to my surprise_."

We all sang together. "_Big girls don't cry_.

Maybe_,"_

"_I was cruel_."

"_I was cruel_."

"_Baby, I'm a fool_."

"_I'm such a fool_."

Frankie held out his microphone and Nicky sang into it.

"_Silly girl_."

Frankie turned to me, I think just to make things just a bit more comical in the act.

""_Shame on you," your mama said_." He pointed at me before holding out his mike again.

"_Silly girl_."

""_Shame on you,_

_You cried in bed,"_"

"_Silly girl_."

""_Shame on you,_

_You told a lie_._"_" He looked forward and we all sang again.

"_Big girls do cry_."

"_Big girls_," Frankie set his stand to the side. "_Don't cry_." He got down on his knees.

"_They don't cry_."

Frankie stood. "_Big girls don't cry_." He turned and held his microphone out to Tommy.

"_That's just an alibi_."

"_Big girls don't cry_." We sang together.

"_Big girls don't cry_

"_Big girls don't cry_."

We all stopped and struck a pose, the audience clapping and cheering.

"Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen." Tommy said. "We're the Four Seasons." The cheering got louder. "Thank you. Thank you. On bass guitar we have Mr. Nick Massi." The cheering continued. "Keyboard we have Bob Gaudio." Bobby waved once as the cheering escalated a little more. "The young woman next to him is Ms. Tyler Hampton." I smiled and curtsied as the crowd grew louder. "I'm Tommy DeVito. And this is Mr. Frankie Valli." Frankie smiled and the audience exploded with cheers and applause. "Thank you very much; you've been a wonderful crowd. Thank you."

!

"Tyler. C'mere." Tommy ushered me over. I took a small drag on my cigarette and then tried not to cough as I felt the smoke go inside of my lungs. I had just started not too long ago, but Bobby didn't know.

"What's up?"

"I was –" Tommy stared at my cigarette. "When did you start smokin'?"

"Yesterday..." I said quietly.

"Oh, I thought I missed somethin'." He shook his head. "Anyway, you and Bobby have been together for a while now, right?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

"Don't you think it's time to... you know..."

"What?"

"Have a little fun in the sheets?" he raised his eyebrows.

"Jeeze, Tommy. I don't know. I was kinda saving that for my honeymoon."

"Even better, it could be his Christmas present." He winked.

"Maybe..."

"Tyler." He put his arm around me. "Trust me. It'll be fine."

!

"Sway your hips. Gracefully. No, not..." Tommy let out a groan of frustration. I stopped.

"Well, I'm trying my best."

"Just... Just stop."

"What're you gonna do? Show me how to be sexy?"

"No. But I know someone that can."

!

"You want me to _what_?"

"Just act sexy. It's not that hard."

Mary stared at Tommy for a minute and then looked at me, and then back at Tommy. "Why exactly should I do this?"

"Because young Tyler here is a virgin and I'm trying to help her act sexy for Bobby for his Christmas present."

Finally, Mary nodded.

"Fine. Just... Come inside." She ushered both of us inside and shoved Tommy down onto the couch. "Sit. Stay. Come with me." She took my arm and led me upstairs.

"I also speak and roll over too." I heard Tommy mutter. Mary took me into her bedroom and dug through her drawers.

"What're you looking for?"

"You'll see." Mary picked up some lingerie and smirked at me. "C'mere. You need to put this one. Step one to being sexy. You have to _look _sexy. Forget all that acting shit; that comes in later."

"Okay..." I walked over and took the silver lingerie from her. "Put that on. I'll show you how to give a lap dance to a man. They love lap dances."

"Seriously?"

"Oh yeah. Frankie loves them." She winked and then took out some lingerie for herself.

"You're wearing some too...?"

"It helps me teach. I'll go change in the bathroom." She walked into the master bathroom.

!

After I finished changing, I looked into the mirror. The lingerie fit me well, the bra part having a strap in the middle, but still far enough apart to make a man go crazy. There seemed to be a dress/curtain type with a slit all the way up the middle. The underwear went up to my belly button and was see through until...well...it hit that part. Mary walked out of the bathroom, wearing a white pair. It had one long strap that went around your neck and flowed almost like a dress, but was very short. The underwear was see through, as was the bra part.

"Alright." She smiled and the two of us started to walk downstairs. "Tommy, shut ya eyes!"

"Why?"

"Just shut 'em!" she turned to me. "Let's go."

The two of us walked down the stairs and she stood in front of Tommy. "Okay, kid. This is how you do a lap dance. First, you make sure they like what they see." She looked at Tommy. "Hey, DeVito."

"What...?" Tommy's voice trailed off and his eyes widened when he saw us. "Fuck, I feel like I died and gone to Heaven."

"Next thing ya do..." Mary straddled Tommy's waist. "Is ya straddle 'em." Tommy didn't look at Mary's face at all. His gaze was fixed somewhere else. "And then ya dance a little bit, move your hips." Mary danced as she explained this, and Tommy's face was just priceless. "Then, shove ya girls in his face." She then did as she said, and when she stopped, Tommy's face was one of pure bliss. Mary rolled her eyes, getting off of him.

"Don't keep that look. It's a learning lesson, not for your enjoyment." She looked at me. "Your turn."

"...What?"

"Your turn."

"Right now...?"

"No, next week." She put her hand on her hips. "C'mere." She grabbed my arm and placed me in front of Tommy. "Straddle him." I swallowed hard and then did as told. This was awkward. "Now, dance a little, move your hips." I did as told. "There ya go... Good. Now, shove ya girls in his face." I looked back at her, my eyes wide. "Shove them in his face."

I sputtered a little.

!

Outside, Frankie went to open his front door but froze.

"I said shove 'em in his face!" Mary's voice began to get a little louder.

"But... But..."

!

"I..." I sputtered.

"Shove. Them."

I did as told, moving my hips again. I felt a deep blush tint my cheeks and the front door slammed open.

"What the fuck?!" Frankie's eyes were wide, and he kind of reminded me of an owl. "What the fuck is goin' on in here?!"

"Let me explain." Mary started.

"You better explain." He looked at me. "Wait... That's my favorite one to see you in, why is she wearin' it?"

"Frankie, come upstairs with me." Mary took his arm, and led him upstairs. I squeaked a little and looked at Tommy, who looked to the side.

"Sorry." He blushed.

"You didn't..."

"Just don't move for a bit okay?"

"Okay."

!

"So did you learn anything?"

"Well... I learned how to piss off Frankie."

Tommy and I were in his car, and Tommy was driving. He smirked a little.

"Besides that."

"I think I like giving lap dances." I laughed.


	9. Walk Like a Man

Chapter Eight

"It's just... I don't get it." Tommy looked back at Bobby as he made his way to the spot next to me.

"What don't you get, Tommy?"

"The title, "Walk Like a Man"."

"So?"

"As opposed to what, a woman?"

I held in my laughter as Frankie rolled his eyes. We looked at each other and I smiled softly. Ever since he saw me like that a couple of months ago, well... Let's just say we're getting over the awkwardness now.

"No, it's for boys, Tommy. Teenage boys. We're telling them to act like men."

"Instead of like girls."

"Yeah, instead of like—No! Instead of like boys. Come on. Why're you doing this?"

At this, I kind of bark laughed like whenever I do when I watch Mork and Mindy. Tommy and the guys stared at me.

"You goin' crazy now?" Tommy raised his eyebrows. I just kept laughing, leaning on Bobby to catch my breath. He put his arm around me to keep me from falling down. Frankie and Nick looked at each other, trying not to laugh as well, but that all soon died down very quickly when Crewe interjected.

"Hey, hey, hey! Miss Congeniality." He looked at Tommy. "It's a metaphor. It's an anthem for every guy who's ever been twisted around a girl's little finger. If _I'm _explaining that to you, we're in trouble. Now knock off the bullshit and sing the song! Roll the tape, Phil." He put his hands on each side of his face and sighed to calm down. Bobby smirked, trying not to laugh. ""Walk Like a Man". Take one."

We all began slamming our feet down on the board, my high heel making one of the loudest noises (at this point I've pretty much mastered heels). Bobby pointed at the band and they began playing. Frankie began singing, his beautiful voice going over all of ours.

"_Walk like a man_." We sang.

"_Oh how you tried_," Frankie started.

"_To cut me down to size_

_Telling dirty lies to my friends_

_But my own father_

_Said give her up, don't bother_

_The world isn't coming to an end_."

"_He said,_" Nicky sang.

"_Walk like a man_

_Talk like a man_

_Walk like a man my son_

_No woman's worth_

_Crawling on the earth_."

!

When Tommy's Christmas party rolled around, I was probably one of the last ones there.

"Aha, she's here!" Tommy hurried over to me and dragged me into another room. "Here. Put this on."

"Wha—?"

"Remember? The Christmas present for Bobby?"

"Oh, right." I nodded.

"Now he's already here. I got one of the girls to help with your make up and such, and then we're gonna put you in a robe and lead you to the room he's in, okay?"

"Yeah." I nodded, opening the box. Tommy started to leave but snapped his fingers once, turning around.

"Oh, and Tyler?"

I looked over at him. "What?"

"Don't forget to say "I'm your Christmas present"." He smiled and shut the door. It reopened not too long after and a beautiful woman wearing a white dress walked in. She shut the door and walked over to me, her make up bag in her hand. I smiled softly, getting dressed in the lingerie (which was like the one Mary let me wear that one time, except it was a deep, sexy red). The woman smiled back and took out her make up, deciding on what to use. When I finished she automatically started brushing my hair and styling it a little, almost like hers (straight and then swoop). After that, she began to put the make up on me (sparkly red eye shadow, mascara, light eyeliner, and red lipstick). She grinned.

"Perfect. Here." She handed me a robe. "Put this on." I did as told. "Let's go." She nodded and walked out. "Hey, Tommy. Ya gal's ready."

Tommy smiled and made his way over to me. "Let's surprise Gaudio, now, shall we?"

"I'm up for it." I smiled and we walked towards the room where Bobby was. Tommy opened the door, and Bobby sat there, watching the TV.

"I bring the boy to the party. Now I bring the party to the boy."

Bobby smiled. "Hey, Tyler."

"Hey." I smiled back.

"Enjoy yourselves." And with that, Tommy started to leave.

"We will." I nodded, and Tommy shut the door.

"So when did you get here?" Bobby messed with his hands a little.

"Not too long ago." I made my way over to the lamp and shut it off. At this, I saw him raise an eyebrow. When I turned off the TV, the other eyebrow shot up. I took in a deep breath and took off my robe. At this, Bobby's big brown eyes just got a little bigger.

"Uh—"

"It's okay." I smiled and straddled him. "I'm your Christmas present." I started kissing his neck and knew I hit his soft spot right away when I felt him tense slightly.

"I think I like this Christmas present."

"Good." I leaned up, stroked his cheek, and then kissed him deeply.

!

We did two rounds that night, and by the time morning had come, the room was an absolute mess. Pillows and covers were everywhere. I even think the top of my lingerie was on the TV.

Bobby rolled us around to where he was on top again and kissed me hard. I ran my fingers through his hair and we rolled once more, me being on top this time. I giggled quietly and pulled away.

"I think it's time we get dressed, don't you?"

"No."

I kissed him again and then got up. "Well, we should at least let them know we're alive." I joked.

"Oh they know. I don't think the headboard could've banged any louder against the wall."

I shook my head and put on my robe. "Here, goofball." I threw one at him, and he caught it, smiling. "Put it on."

Bobby stood, doing as told, and then grabbed a cigarette out of a pack, lighting it. I took out one of my own, doing the same. Right then, the door opened and there stood Nicky, Tommy, and a crowd of people who started laughing and cheering.

"Yes!" Tommy praised. "Well done! Well done!"

"Alright! Congratulations!" said one girl. Bobby took a drag off his cigarette and put an arm around me.

"You were right." He said. "It is more fun with another person."

I laughed a little and kissed his cheek.

!

Not too long after, Tommy sat on the phone with Frankie, trying to get him to come over.

"Frankie. Come on. Come here. We're still going. Jump in your car. You'll be here in like 10 minutes. I got a present for you." He paused. "You don't even understand, Frankie. You are missing all the fun." He soon hung up. "Fine, if he doesn't want his present, I'll take it. C'mon, sweetcheeks." He led this girl into the other room. Nicky was passed out in the chair, a girl next to him. With that, and yes we were dressed, Bobby and I walked out, our hair still a mess.

!

"_Walk like a man_." We sang. We were performing at a theater and the guys all wore the same matching grey suits with black trimming, white shirts, black bowties and black dress shoes. My dress was grey with black trimming to match the suits and black heels.

"_Like a_

_Man_."

The music stopped and the audience went nuts. Behind us was a lit up sign that read "Frankie Valli and the 4 Seasons".

I liked it.


	10. A Jersey Contract

Chapter Nine

We were all at Crewe's penthouse, celebrating our three number one hits. The butler guy walked up with a white cake with three stars-red, for Sherry, green for Big Girls, and blue for Walk Like a Man, all written in white icing. We all clapped and cheered and Crewe walked over to his bar.

"Did I not say the stars were in alignment? Three number ones in a row."

"Well, you are always right, Crewe." Bobby put his arm around me. "You're always right."

"There's that." He looked around. "Hey, where's Tommy and Nicky? Get them in here."

"Hey," Frankie called over his shoulder. "Come on in here."

"Over here!" Tommy said. "He's got golden ears, he's blind as a bat." He teased. "Come on! Three number ones!"

"Right?" Crewe grinned. "That's what I'm saying."

"Come on! Who's the best fucking team?" Frankie pointed at him. "Come on, Frankie!" The two high fived and clasped hands.

!

"Have you seen Frankie?"

"No why?" I shook my head. Bobby and I sat on the couch. I looked over, finishing off my cake.

"I have a proposition for him."

"Big fancy word, Bob. What's up?"

"You'll see. I want you in on it too, but I don't want to tell you until we're all talking."

"Okay." I smiled and set my plate to the side. I placed my hand on his thigh and leaned up to whisper in his ear. "Maybe we can celebrate our own way later." I nibbled his earlobe lightly and then stopped. Bobby rolled his head a little, smiling. I knew that always got him.

"My place?" he looked at me.

"I don't care." I winked and then looked over. "There's Frankie." He followed my gaze and nodded.

"Let's go."

We stood, the cake still in Bobby's hands, and walked over to Frankie.

"Well, maybe we should make an investment." He started. Frankie looked over at him after staring at one of Crewe's many paintings.

"In what? In art?" Frankie looked confused.

"Mm-mm." Bobby shook his head and set down his plate. "In us."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you got the voice. Tyler and I, we got the songs."

"Yeah, so?"

"So, we make a partnership. I give you half of everything we write, and you give us half of everything you record outside the group."

Once again, confusion swept over Frankie. "Why would I record outside the group?"

"Yeah." I looked at Bobby. "I mean, we're a hit. Why would he want to leave?"

"I don't know." Bobby shrugged. "Things happen."

"What about Tommy and Nick?" Frankie shoved a hand into his pocket. "Nicky's really the one that got me singing. Tommy, well... We wouldn't be here if it weren't for him."

"It won't cut into their share. I'd never do that."

"Well, we gotta tell them."

"Yeah, of course."

"Hey... If things work out, think we could talk about a saxophone?"

"If things work out, we can talk about a whole _horn _section."

"Sounds good to me." I beamed.

"Okay, I'm in."

"Tyler? Baby, you in?" Bobby looked at me.

"I'm in." I smiled, my Texan twang coming out.

"Alright." Bobby smiled and looked at the painting. "I'll have somebody draw up a contract."

"What, you mean like sign a piece of paper from a lawyer?" Frankie stared at him.

"Yeah."

"You wanna do this thing?"

"Yeah, but we gotta get something on paper—"

"So we do it. You want a contract?" he held out his hand. "Here. A Jersey contract." Bobby shook his hand first before I did.

"Alright, we got a deal." I smiled.

!

We picked up the Angels on the tour for our opening act, and each guy, except for Bobby, hooked up with a girl. Frankie was driving the blue convertible that Bobby owned as he talked to his little girlfriend on the side.

"Everybody has a girlfriend, honey. Everybody." He said.

"Well, I don't understand then. Why did you get married in the first place?" the girl asked.

"Are you kidding? Family is everything."

I took Bobby's hand and rested my head on his shoulder.

"Oh. Well that makes sense."

!

"Here we go..." Frankie said quietly.

"Alright. This looks like the place." Bobby stopped the car.

"Okay, Bobby, I'll call you."

"Yep." Frankie got out and I got out of the back and switched to the front. "Get your stuff?"

"I got it." Frankie shook his head and grabbed his things. I gave him a quick hug.

"I'll see you later." I smiled.

"Yeah, see you." He smiled back.

"Have a good one." Bobby waved once.

"Take it easy." Frankie walked up to the house and we drove off.

!

"Whee!" I smiled and hurried into Bobby's home. "Oh, I missed this place!" I giggled and flopped onto the couch. He brought in our things and set them down. He looked over at me and shook his head. "What?"

"Nothing." He smiled softly and thought for a second. "Tyler..."

"Yeah?"

"Come here." I walked over to him and he took my hand. "Look. I've been thinking about this... I've been thinking about it a _lot_..."

"What?"

"I was wondering... if I asked you... Would you... Marry me?"

My breath hitched. "Marry you?"

"Yeah..." he nodded. I grinned and hugged him.

"Of course, you big silly songwriter! Of course I would!" I giggled and he hugged me and then pulled away, digging his hands into his pockets.

"Close your eyes."

"Okay." I did as told, singing softly, the grin still on my face. I felt him gently take my left hand and he slid a ring on my finger. I giggled quietly and then opened my eyes, staring at that one simple diamond on a silver band. It wasn't much to some, but I loved simple things so it was absolutely beautiful to me. I giggled again and kissed him.

!

After picking out the wedding bands, the two of us hurried to go and see a Justice of the Peace, who married us quickly. It wasn't much of a ceremony—Just Bobby and myself and a random old guy who we had to be our witness. When we got home, we went a couple of rounds before officially going to bed. We wanted to be married before the next tour that we had and we would have an official ceremony later.

Until then, I was just happy being Mrs. Bob Gaudio.


	11. Tyler's News

A/N: Now going away from the movie for a while, but I will be going back to it.

Chapter Ten

We told the guys one by one. Tommy got pissed off that we didn't warn him. Nicky clapped Bobby on the back and congratulated him before giving me a hug. And Frankie, who had already been a little down, smiled softly and gave us both hugs and wished us well.

Now, just six months into the marriage, I stayed in the bathroom, hugging the toilet. There was soft knock on the door.

"Tyler?"

I lay on the floor, too scared to move. I didn't want another wave of nausea to sweep over me.

"Yeah?"

"Everything okay?" I could tell Bobby was concerned.

"I've been better." I answered.

"Do you want to go to the doctor?"

"Fuck doctors."

He sighed. "Tyler..."

"No."

"Don't make me make an appointment."

"Bobby..." I sat up slowly and slammed the toilet seat lid down. "I thought you loved me."

"I do. That's why I want you to go to the doctor."

I flushed the toilet and slowly stood, brushing my teeth a couple of times before opening the door and walking out. I went and gently got onto the bed.

"I will call the doctor." He lay down next to me and rubbed my side.

"Why...?" I moaned quietly. I tried to turn my wedding ring around on my finger, something I always do with my rings, but it was a little harder to do so. I moaned again and turned around slowly, burying my face in his chest. He rubbed my back lightly.

"Because. You've been sick like this for a while. I'm worried."

"I'm telling you... It has to be allergies."

"Allergies? Seriously?"

I looked up at him. "Well... Made sense to me."

"I think I should just take you to the doctor." He stroked my hair lightly and kissed my forehead.

!

The next day, I did as promised. I made an appointment the night before and now, at ten thirty, I was waiting for the doctor to come in. I hated doctors. I mean, I know they're there for our own good, but they just really got on my nerves.

"Mrs. Gaudio." The doctor walked in. I smiled politely, like I always did. "The tests we ran..." he cleared his throat. "One came back positive."

"Oh?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Congratulations." He smiled. "You're pregnant."

!

"Bobby!" I called, setting my purse down. "Bobby?"

"I'm in here." There were a few piano notes being played. I giggled quietly and walked into the room, covering his eyes.

"Hi." I kissed the top of his head.

"Hmm." He sat there for a moment. "I wonder who this could be."

"Guess."

"Can't be Tommy, the voice is too high. Can't be Nicky, the hands are too soft. Frankie?"

"Yeah, Bobby?" I tried to imitate Frankie's voice but failed.

"Frankie, since when did you have a country twang?" I laughed and uncovered his eyes and he looked up at me. "Hi."

"Hi." I grinned and kissed him quickly. After that I walked over to the bed and sat down.

"What did the doctor say?" he turned around.

"Do you really want to know?" I beamed.

"Of course."

"Maybe... I should just... Leave you in suspense." I walked over to him and sat next to him on the piano bench. I placed my hand on his thigh and kissed his cheek.

"Maybe not." He raised his eyebrows. I smiled softly.

"Life's a funny thing." I stood and walked over to the door. "It can grant you some of the best gifts when you're not expecting it." Bobby's eyebrow furrowed. "The little joys start off with a test." I grinned.

"Little joys...?"

I giggled, not being able to hold it in any longer. "I'm pregnant."

"What?" Bobby leapt up and hugged me, spinning me around a little. I hadn't seen this much joy in his eyes since the day I agreed to marry him. "You're serious?"

"I'm serious!" I stroked his hair. He kissed me before quickly pulling away and hurrying to the phone. "What're you doing?"

"I have to tell the guys!"

I smiled and shook my head.

!

It had been a while since I had seen Mary, and Lord had she changed.

The door swung open and there she stood, a bottle in her hand.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"I just... Wanted to come by, say hi."

"Hi."

"Can I come in?"

Mary stepped to the side and I walked inside, looking around. Francine sat at the dinner table, working on her homework. Toni was in the living room with Celia, watching the TV. I looked at Mary's hands. No wedding ring. "Can I ask your advice about something?" I ran a hand through my hair.

"What's up?"

"Well... I'm pregnant..."

She smiled softly. "Congratulations."

"Thank you." I smiled back. "Do you have any tips?"

"Well..." Mary set the bottle down and crossed her arms. "Don't drink. Don't smoke. I didn't smoke with any of the girls. After I had them, that was a different story, but while I was pregnant I didn't touch any cigarettes. Eat healthy, or else you'll balloon. Trust me, experience." I nodded.

"Anything else?"

"Be careful in the first few months. Be careful period, but especially then."

"Aunt Tyler!" Francine beamed and hurried over to me, hugging me around the waist.

"Hello, Fran." I smiled, ruffling her hair.

"Francine, did you finish your homework?"

The young girl shook her head. "Not yet. I just wanted to say hi to Aunt Tyler."

Mary fixed her daughter's hair. "Go on and finish your homework."

"Yes ma'am." Francine tightened the hug a little and then hurried over to the table once again.

"Is there anything else you need?"

"No, I just wanted a little advice."

Mary smiled softly and gave me a hug. "I'm really happy for you and Bobby. Really." She rubbed my back.

"Thank you." I smiled. Mary smelled terribly of alcohol and I pulled away not too long after. "Where's Frankie? I wanna tell him before Bobby does."

"He's on the phone with Bobby right now."

"Damn." I muttered and she laughed quietly. "Is everything okay with y'all?"

At this, Mary looked down. "No... We're getting a divorce."

"Shit, how're the kids taking it?"

"They'll be fine. They'll pull through." She said quietly.

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine." She nodded.

"You—hey. Look at me." I made her look up at me. "You call me if you need anything. _Anything_. Any time of day or night. I'm here for you."

I saw the tears in her eyes as she nodded. "Okay."

I hugged her again, rubbing her back.


	12. Did Some Time in Old Ohio

Chapter Eleven

We were not on tour, however, we were asked back to perform at the Ohio State Fair.

So we did.

We went there a year or so ago, and I guess they liked us because they wanted us to come back.

"_Ooh, Dawn, go away_

_Back where you belong_." We sang.

"_Girl we can't_," Frankie took the lead.

"_Change the places_

_Where we were born_

_Before you say_,"

"_You say_,"

"_That you want me_,

_I want you to think_."

"_Think, think_."

"_What your family would say_

_Think_,"

"_Think, think_,"

"_What you're throwing away,_"

We sang together. "_Now think what the future_

_Would be with_

_A poor boy like me_

_Me_

_Dawn_

_Go away; I'm no good for you_

_Dawn, go away_."

We finished up the song and the crowd went wild.

"Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. We'll see you again next year." Tommy said. "Wonderful time."

The guys wore matching light brown sweaters with white turtle necks while I wore a white blouse that hid the oh so small bump and a nice light brown skirt that I could still fit into. We walked off and started back towards our hotel when we heard clapping. We turned and there was a cop.

"Great show, fellas!"

"Thank you!" Bobby smiled and the rest of us thanked him after that.

"Welcome to Cleveland."

"Thank you."

"You're under arrest."

We stopped dead in our tracks and turned.

"What?" Bob looked confused.

"For what?" Tommy asked.

"Defrauding an innkeeper." The cop walked up to us.

"What?" Frankie furrowed his eyebrows.

"You fellas played here last year?"

"Yeah." Tommy nodded slightly.

"You stay at a Holiday Inn?"

"I don't remember."

"Well, they do. And you skipped without paying the bill. You owe the Holiday Inn 120 dollars."

"For crying out loud—" Bobby took one step towards Tommy, who held out a hand.

"A minor oversight. I can take care of that right now."

"Tommy, you were supposed to take care of that a year ago." I snapped, crossing my arms.

"Well I can take care of it now. Don't let your crazy pregnant lady hormones make you all weird, alright?"

"Too late. I'm this close to beating your ass, Tommy." I held up my hand with a space about half an inch between my thumb and forefinger.

"Hey, hey, hey, just calm down, alright?" Bobby looked at me. I sighed quietly, crossing my arms again. Tommy snapped his fingers and our drummer handed him a black bag.

"Take that up with the judge." The cop snapped.

"Come on, officer, can't we deal with this privately?" Tommy lowered his voice.

"You wouldn't be offering me a bribe, would you?" the cop started to get into his face. Tommy didn't answer. "That's what I thought. Hands behind your backs, all of you."

I stared at the cop and then at Bobby, who I could tell was extremely pissed off.

"No." I kept my arms crossed. Frankie stared at me.

"What're you? Nuts?" he asked as another cop put the cuffs on him. "Just do as he says."

"No." I repeated.

"Trust me. Okay? I know what I'm talking about."

"Look, the only one he should be arresting is Tommy. _He _skipped on the bill." I looked at the cop. "_We _thought he _paid _it."

"Take it up with the judge." The cop said and started to put the cuffs on me. I struggled a little, trying to get loose. "Struggle again, see what happens." Was all the cop said. I figured he would have taken me to the ground or something so I stopped, sighing.

!

"Alright, alright. My friend, my friend, my friend." Tommy's voice echoed across the cells. "Every man is looking for a queen. Where is she?" there was a pause. "Oh, with another man! What're you gonna do? It happens. We're all winners here. That's 40 you owe me. Hey, Nicky, you remember when we couldn't get arrested?"

"When was that? When you were 3?" Bobby snapped.

"Alright, calm down, genius, huh? Relax, it's not the end of the world. We'll be out in a couple of days."

Bobby looked over at Tommy through a few cells. "This may come as a big shock to you, Tommy, but I don't have a police record."

"Oh no? Well, it's never too late to start, right? Hey, who knows, maybe you guys come up with a hit song out of it. Right, Frankie, huh? _Oh me, oh my-o_." he sang. "C'mon, Frankie." He tried to hit the high note, basically trying his best to do an impression of Frankie. "_Did some time in old Ohio_."

"Tommy, can it." Frankie snapped.

"Come on. Calm your friend down, alright? He's about to shit his pants."

"I'm not gonna calm down." Bobby snapped. "I'm in a jail cell with a—" he started to say something but the big guy he was having to share the cell with stood up, intimidating him. "...person." Tommy began laughing and clapped once, and I heard Nicky chuckle a little. The guy looked at Bobby and winked and him and Bobby just turned away. "Hello..." he muttered. I paced around my cell, my hands in front of me. I messed with them a little before sighing quietly and getting on the cot, which really wasn't comfortable.

"This is bullshit. Straight up bullshit." I shook my head.

"Don't worry, it won't be long until we're out." Frankie said.

"Hey, Tommy." I sat up. "You gonna skip out on another bill so we can come back next year?" I snarled.

"Hey, will you shut up about that already? Jesus Christ, you remind me of my mother." Tommy rolled his eyes.

"Well, you know, if you had paid that hotel bill, we wouldn't be in this shithole. This is a first for me too, you know. And being pregnant doesn't really fucking help."

The two of us started yelling at each other through the cells, and I saw Bobby get a little more tense. "Fuck you" and "This is all your fault" were just two of the things we yelled at each other.

"Hey!" Bobby finally snapped. "Both of you just shut the fuck up!"

"Ooh, looks like I hit a nerve with the genius." Tommy said, sarcastically, and then turned back to the guy he was sharing the cell with.

"This is fucking ridiculous..." I heard Frankie mutter.

"I don't know. Feels like old times to me." Nicky joked.

I huddled up on my cot, my hormones getting the best of me. I started crying, trying to make it quiet, but that obviously didn't work.

"Is that Tyler?" Frankie's voice was the first I heard.

"I think so." I heard a cot creak as Nicky spoke.

"Tyler?" Bobby's voice was calm. "Everything okay?"

"Let her cry. She'll get over it soon enough." Tommy snapped.

"Tommy just shut up!" I yelled, my voice sounding a little different because of the sobs I was holding back.

"Ooh. So scary." Tommy snapped.

A couple of days later, we were let out and surrounded by fans. We greeted them and signed a few autographs as we made our way down the steps and then went down the sidewalk.

Little did we know, this would begin the unraveling of the group.


	13. The Beginning of the End

Chapter Twelve

After a little while, in Detroit, we met a young woman, a reporter, named Lorraine. Beautiful woman, and everyone liked her instantly.

Especially Frankie. He fell for her hard. And when Tommy hit on her, after they had been together for a bit, Frankie refused to speak to him.

Then, things started to hit the fan even more.

We were at the tax office, going over the funds and all. Frankie was standing, his arms crossed, and Tommy was pacing around a little bit. Bobby sat in a chair and I sat on the couch, next to Nicky who was smoking a cigarette.

"I want Bobby to handle the cash from now on." Frankie told the tax accountant.

"What?" Tommy crossed over to him. Frankie didn't look at him.

"I want Bobby to handle the cash."

Tommy looked at all of us before looking back at Frankie. "Alright, let me explain something." Frankie slowly looked at him. "When I leave this group, or they carry me out, Bob can handle whatever you want Bob to handle. While I'm in this group, he's not gonna handle a dime. You understand?" he started to raise his voice. "Not a _fucking dime_!" He looked at the accountant. "Get that through your fucking head."

"Maybe we should put it to a vote." Nicky spoke up.

"What?" Tommy looked at him. His temper flared a little more. "What was that?"

"Maybe we should put it to a vote."

"A vote?" he nodded once, stepping back a couple of times. "Alright. I see. I see. Now we got a democracy. Alright. Let's put it to a vote. Should Bob handle the money, yea or nay? Huh?" he picked up a wooden chair. "Huh?" he slammed it down the account's desk, making Frankie and the accountant flinch.

"Hey, hey!" Bobby shot up from his seat while Nicky put his face in one of his hands.

"Well, that's my vote. Anybody else?" Tommy looked at all of us.

"Tommy—" Frankie started.

"Let it go." Bobby advised.

"What?" Tommy looked at Frankie.

"Tyler, we need to go." Bobby opened the door. Frankie walked out first, me behind him. Bobby followed not too long after.

"Oh, looks like the nays have it." Tommy said. Bobby slammed the door and we left.

!

Back at home, I was finally able to relax. I sat on the couch and propped my feet up on the footrest and Bobby sat down next to me.

"God damn that Tommy..." he muttered. I shook my head and then winced suddenly. "Everything okay?" he looked over at me.

"Something's wrong..." I shook my head. "Something is very, _very _wrong..."

"Is it the baby?"

"Just... Take me to the hospital. The doctor. Whatever. I don't care. Just take me."

!

A week later, I walked into the recording studio, my eyes still red from crying. Bobby cried for a few days, but it wasn't anything like how I did. I even refused to go into the nursery or out of the bedroom. Bobby did the best he could to comfort me, but all I did was shut him out. Today was the first day I've actually been outside.

"C'mon, let's get this done, alright? About fucking time." Tommy rolled his eyes.

"Tommy... Just... Shut up." I snapped. "Please?"

"Tommy, not today, okay?" Bobby spoke quietly.

"What? Pregnant lady too sensitive?" He scoffed.

"Tommy, I said shut up!" I shouted at him and left the room, slamming the door. I ran down the hall, running past Crewe and a few other people. My name was called a few times but I ignored them and ran into the bathroom, curling up in a ball on the floor. I sobbed loudly, unashamed. I just didn't care anymore. There was a soft knock on the door.

"Tyler? Everything okay in there?"

It wasn't who I expected it to be.

"Frankie?" I choked out.

"Yeah. Can I come in?"

"Door's open."

The door opened and Frankie walked in. He closed it quietly and sat down next to me.

"What's going on?" he put his arm around me. I shook my head. "C'mon, you can tell me." His voice was soft.

"The baby..." I whispered.

"What about it?"

"I lost it..." I started crying again and leaned my head on his shoulder.

"Shit, Tyler..." He hugged me the best he could. "I'm so sorry... How's Bob taking it?"

"Better than me..." I whispered. "He cried for a few days, but I think he's still hurting."

"I'm sure he is..." he rubbed my arm. "What about you?"

"It's like I failed my baby... I can't take it, Frankie. I basically killed my child. I don't know how, but I did." I started bawling again.

"Hey, no, no, no, no..." His voice was still soft, and comforting. "This was not your fault."

"Then why did...?"

"I think maybe you two weren't ready for a baby. It's just God's way of saying now's not the time."

"Yeah, but..."

"But what?"

"I just feel so useless..."

"Hey. Look at me." He lifted my chin up. "You're not useless. You never have been. You're beautiful, you've got talent. You can sing, you can dance, you can write... And I've seen you act out to a few movies when you thought you were alone here in the studio, after the rest of us would go out to lunch, like you were trying to memorize those lines or something." I blushed but I'm sure it was hard to tell, my face was already red. "You're good at that too. You could win an Oscar."

"Nah..." I shook my head.

"Oh yeah. Don't doubt what I say." He smiled a little. I smiled back, softly. "There's that smile we all know and love." He wiped one of the tears off my cheek and we looked at each other for a moment before I looked away. "C'mon. Let's get back in there. If Tommy starts anything, I'll kick his ass, okay?"

"Okay." I chuckled quietly. Frankie stood and then held out his hand to help me up. We walked out and into the studio where everyone else is. Crewe stopped me, a look of concern on his face.

"Everything okay?" he asked quietly. I nodded. "If you need anything I want you to call me, okay, sweetheart?"

"Okay." I smiled softly and hugged him. After a few seconds I pulled away and walked into the recording part of the studio where Nicky was sitting on a stool and Tommy was pacing around the room. Bobby stood at the microphone and I walked up to him and put my arms around him, the first time in a week. Automatically he hugged me tightly, but gently, and I heard a couple of sniffles from him.

!

"Is there something going on between you and Bobby? Like a fight?" Nicky asked as he tuned his bass guitar. We were the only ones in the room since the others went out for a smoke break or something like that.

"Not really." I shook my head.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"No... Well... I don't know..." I shook my head. Finally I rolled my eyes at myself. "It's about the baby. I lost it last week after we came home from the tax accountant."

"You're fucking kidding, right?" I could hear the shock in his voice. I shook my head.

"No." I sat down on a stool.

"Jesus, Tyler... I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I guess. I mean, we can always try again, right?"

"That's right. Who knows? Maybe this just wasn't meant to be."

"That's what Frankie said too."

He got up and then sat on the stool next to me, putting an arm around me in a brotherly way. "Hey. If it's meant to happen, it'll happen."

"I know." I nod, smiling softly.

"And Tommy? Well, he's just a prick. Don't let him get to you."

"I'm not." I shook my head. The door opened and Bobby walked in first. He walked over to me and I took his hand.

"How're you doing?" he asked.

"I'll pull through." I stood and hugged him again.


	14. Two Years Later

Chapter Thirteen

Time and time again Bobby and I tried, and every time I kept losing the baby. By the time I lost the fourth child, I was just done. Each time I lost a baby, the further I distanced myself from Bobby. Finally, two years after we married, we separated. Lorraine and Frankie were still together, Nicky and the wife were having some problems, and Tommy... Well... I wasn't sure about him. Every other week he always had a new girl.

During our separation, Bobby met this girl and they began going together. Not that I minded, we were divorcing anyway. But there was one thing I didn't understand.

Why did I feel a little guilty?

I walked into the house that we shared from time to time (I usually stayed there; Bobby lived with his girlfriend) and heard him trying to figure out a song in the other room. I walked in where he was standing over the dining table, the pencil in one hand and the paper on the table. I smiled softly.

"You know, if you want it to be for Frankie you gotta make that a little higher, it's too low for him." I leaned on the doorway. He looked back at me, and smiled politely. He seemed to be growing a goatee.

"Well," he stood up straight. "It really your part I was trying to figure out."

"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." He nodded. I walked over to him and looked at the song.

"Oh, I like this." I smiled.

"I figured."

"Working My Way Back to You..." I nodded. "Nice."

"Did you cut your hair?"

I looked up at him. "Oh, yeah." I nodded. "I cut it yesterday."

"It's short." He raised his eyebrows. I nodded.

"I love it. It's easy to take care of." My hair was about chin length now and permed to make it just a bit shorter. The natural red tint was shining to make it even more red.

"It looks good."

"Thank you." I smiled and lightly messed with his new facial hair. "This makes you look more like a man, not like a child. It looks good on you. You look so sophisticated."

He laughed quietly. "Thanks."

"So what're you doing here?"

"I stopped by to get my piano, and decided that maybe I should work on the song a little bit."

"Looks like you left the piano."

"I put it in my car."

"Oh, okay." I nodded. "I should've brought it over to you, but I've been busy writing a few songs of my own."

"It's fine. We can go over your songs later if you want."

"Sounds good."

We stood there for a few seconds before I smiled again and started for the fridge to get me something to drink but something caught my arm. I turned and Bobby's hand was on my arm, gently, and he was looking at me. There was some kind of look on his face, I couldn't make it out. The next thing I knew, his lips were on mine. I kissed him back, my arms going around him. My hand rested on his cheek and I lightly stroked his cheekbone. The facial hair tickled me a little, and I smiled into the kiss. I deepened it a little, holding him close.

!

Afterwards, I sat up in the bed. Bobby was busy getting dressed and fixing his hair.

"It looks fine." I smiled softly. He looked over at me. "Really."

"I just don't want to—"

"I know. You don't want her to know. Technically, it's cheating in a way I guess you could say."

"Yeah." He cleared his throat.

"Belt's unbuckled."

He quickly fixed his belt. I put on my discarded underwear and crossed my arms, putting the rest of my clothes back on.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Bobby looked at me. I fixed my hair the best I could before looking at him.

"Well..." I started. "It's better than being in a marriage where we don't really... Get along anymore."

"We do this, it'll most likely be forever."

"I know."

"And it all takes place tomorrow morning."

"I know..." My voice was a little more quiet.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Are you?" He sighed quietly. "I mean, don't you think it'd be for the best? And besides, we don't have any kids, so who's really suffering?" I crossed my arms.

"Good point." He sighed again. "I'll see you tomorrow in court?"

"Yeah." I nodded. He did the same.

"Okay."

I smiled softly and with that, he left.

!

That night, I took my wedding ring off of my finger and looked it over a few times before setting it down. It had to be my fault why the marriage didn't work—he wanted to comfort me, but I pushed him away. I pushed his love away and I drove him away from me.

"Why do I always do this shit...?" I muttered to myself and turned off my light. I set it down on the nightstand and turned on my side, falling asleep.

!

"And the assets?" the judge looked at us.

"She can have the house and the car. I already have another home." Bobby spoke up. I looked over at him and he smiled softly at me.

"Is that all?"

"Yes sir." He nodded.

The judge banged his gavel. "Alright. Mrs. Gaudio gets the house and the car and half of the money that Mr. Gaudio earns with the songwriting and the Four Seasons."

Not too long after, we signed the necessary papers and left the courthouse, walking down the steps. Bobby had his blazer draped over his right arm as his girlfriend pulled up in her car. I looked at my hands for a moment before looking up at Bobby.

"The house will be empty..." I said quietly.

"It's okay. I'll visit from time to time."

"I'm sorry we couldn't work this out..." I looked down. "It was my fault, after all."

"Don't feel like that. Everything happens for a reason. It was fun while it lasted, though." He smiled.

"Yeah..." I nodded. "Still friends?"

"Of course."

I grinned. "Good. I'll see you tomorrow at the studio, then."

"Sounds good." He nodded and got into the car with his girlfriend, and I waved at them as they drove off. Bobby gave a soft wave before they were out of sight.

!

"Just be glad your divorce ended with you two being civil. Frank and I can't stand sight of each other." Mary flicked the ashes off her cigarette. We sat in a restaurant, waiting for our food.

"And that's not good for the girls. I mean, you have to at least _try _to be civil for them." I said, taking a drink of my Coke.

"You some kind of relationship expert?"

"I'm just saying..."

"Well don't talk about nothin' you don't know anything about."

"Okay..." I looked down. "But have you seen how Francine is acting lately? You need to have a close eye on that girl."

"Well, if she had a father maybe she wouldn't be acting out as much."

"I didn't have either of my parents, and look at me. I'm a very successful person. Sometimes I think... Kids need someone to look up to, and... Mary... With all due respect... All this drinking and shit you're doing, it ain't anything to really look up to."

"Look, Tyler." Mary snapped. "I do what the fuck I want, and I'm busting my ass to raise my girls."

"I'm not saying you're not—"

"And while Mr. Hot Shit On A Stick is out there having fun, I'm raising his kids. Now is that fair?"

"It's not all fun and games... I'm there. It's hard work."

"Pfft. Okay." Mary rolled her eyes. I sighed, not saying anything else. I should just let it drop.

But Francine was going down a bad road, and I was getting worried about her. She was hanging out with the wrong crowd and doing all the wrong things.

We needed to have a serious talk.


	15. The Tip of the Iceburg

Chapter Fourteen

A few months later, we walked out of the recording studio. I put a hand on my stomach.

"Anyone hungry? I'll pay." I took out my car keys.

"I gotta get home. Judy's making lunch." Bobby shook his head.

"Yeah, I need to lie down, my head's killin' me." Nicky put on his sunglasses.

"Well maybe if you slowed down on the drinking, your head wouldn't kill you the next day." Frankie advised.

"Frankie, not now." Nicky got into his car and left.

"Jeeze... Get a grip." Tommy rolled his eyes. Frankie sighed quietly and looked at me.

"I'll go to lunch with you. Lorraine's out working on a story, so..." he shrugged.

"Okay." I smiled and looked over my shoulder. "Tommy? You comin'?"

"Not today." Tommy shook his head. "I'm goin' home and relaxing." He walked down the sidewalk.

"By relax he probably means fuckin' his latest girlfriend." Frankie said quietly. I held back my laughter.

!

"So, you ready for the Sullivan show next week?"

"Meh." I shrugged. I hadn't been feeling my best lately, and performing onstage was the last thing I wanted to do, but I had to do it. "I guess."

"Everything alright?"

"I just don't feel good." I shook my head. I was hungry not too long ago and I ate half of my food, but now I just felt sick.

"Do you want to go home, lay down?"

"No, I'll be fine." I nod. "Really, it's just a bad feeling. With Tommy."

"He's goin' off the rails."

"He is. I know it's a shock to some, but I do worry about him and all that gambling and sleeping around he does."

"It'll come back and bite him in the ass sooner or later. Trust me."

!

One week later, we were backstage at the Ed Sullivan Show and were getting ready to go on. The guys wore traditional tuxes, no colored jackets, while my dress was white with black trimming.

"Hey, Frankie." A man walked up to Frankie as he walked in. "You guys are fabulous. You guys just keep getting better and better." I put a hand on my stomach, wishing the nausea would just leave.

"Thanks." Frankie nodded once.

"Is Tommy around?"

"Who wants to know?"

The man held out his hand. "Norman Waxman, Frankie. A friend of Tommy's." Bobby looked up as I shifted my feet and put more weight on my left foot. Frankie didn't take Norman's hand.

"Listen. What's this about?"

"Money."

At this, Nicky looked up.

"Listen, Mr.—"

"Waxman." The man took off his glasses. "Norman Waxman."

"You got business with us, you talk to our attorney. Now, if you'll excuse me—"

"No, no, no. You got a little success now, right? You got the records, the TV, the personal appearances." At this point, all of us were listening. "We're all very proud of you."

"Excuse me." A crew member walked over to Norman. "You can't be here." Norman ushered him away.

"Tommy's put me in this awkward position." Nicky and Bobby got up as he spoke as one woman fixed my lipstick, which was light pink. "I've stalled my people as long as I can, but he's in too deep. They want their money. _Now_. Before something unfortunate happens to one of his, and it all goes up in smoke."

"This is bullshit." Frankie snapped.

"How much does Tommy owe you?" Bobby asked.

"150 large." Norman put his glasses back on, his cigarette in his mouth.

"Excuse me?" Frankie's eyes widened.

"See? I told you." I walked over to him. "I knew this was going to happen. I fucking knew it."

"One hundred and fifty thousand dollars."

"Jesus..." Bobby left our sides.

"Hey." Tommy walked up. "Did you think I wasn't gonna make it?" he walked over to where Bobby was previously sitting. "Hey, Normie." He took a drink of his coffee. "What's up?"

"Hey, Tommy." Norman greeted.

"You're on." A man said.

"The guy said we had 5."

"Well, we're on now." Bobby snapped. The five of us got ready to go on, none of us very happy.

"For all of the youngsters in the country, The Four Seasons. So let's have a pleasant intro for them." Ed Sullivan announced and we walked on, getting ready. The crowd clapped and cheered as we did so. Almost automatically, _Working My Way Back to You _began to play.

"_I'll be working my way back to you, babe_

_With a burning love inside_

_Hey, I'm working my way back to you, babe_

_And the happiness that died_,"

"_I let it get away_," Frankie took the lead. "_Been payin' every day_

_When you were so in love with me_

_I ran around like I was free_

_Thought I could have my cake_

_And eat it too_

_But how I cried over losing you_

_See me down and out_

_But I ain't about to go_

_Livin' my life without you_,"

"_Oh, for every day_," we sang together "_I made you cry_

_I'm payin' girl_,"

"_Till the day that I die_,"

"_I'll be workin' my way back to you, babe_

_With a burning love inside_

_Yeah, I'm workin' my way back to you, babe_

_And the happiness that died_,"

"_I let it get away_

_I let it get away_."

"_I'll be working my back to you_."

And with that, the song was over.

!

I snuck away from rehearsal the next day to go to the doctor and get myself checked out. After I left and all the tests were done, only a few things were swimming through my head.

Why did Tommy have to get in so deep?

Why did everything just have to fucking explode right now?

Why, after all these years, did I finally want to go home?

I didn't know the answers to any of these, especially the last one. I was famous, doing what I loved doing. I was friends with Frankie Valli and part of a very successful music group, but God knows how long it'll last now, thanks to Tommy.

I missed my grandmother, my grandfather. I hate not having the satisfaction of rubbing this into my parents' face, the same people that told me I was going to be nothing except a bum on the street.

I don't know. I guess I just really missed home. Not Texas, but home. But one more thing ran through my mind.

How the hell was I going to tell Bobby about this baby?


	16. Going Up In Smoke

Chapter Fifteen

I finished putting on my dress. Frankie called me earlier, saying that the five of us had a meeting with Gyp DeCarlo. Now, from what I understand, Gyp is a pretty big guy where the Mob is concerned. He gave Frankie something called a claim check a few years ago for singing My Mother's Eyes. A claim check, from what I've gathered, is something like you scratch my back, I scratch your back; you do something for me, I do something for you, that kind of thing. So, now that Frankie did Gyp a favor all those years ago, it's Gyp's turn to do something for him.

I fixed my hair, making sure that I looked alright. I wanted my make up to hide the fact that I've been pale because of the morning sickness I've been getting. My lipstick, a soft red, really made a lot of contrast with the rest. My eye shadow was light grey, with a hint of eyeliner and mascara. I made sure my necklace, a simple ruby cut into the shape of heart with a thin gold band going up in a diagonal angle, didn't have the clasp in the front. My dress was black and flowed on the bottom, but was a little tight up top, around the stomach area.

I put on my diamond bracelet and a ruby ring that I had bought not too long ago and walked out the door, my heels making loud noises on the ground. I kept my purse, a white bag with a gold lock, was on my shoulder and shut my door just as Bobby and Frankie pulled up.

"Looks like you're ready." Frankie ran a hand through his hair.

"She was always quick to get ready in the mornings." Bobby said. I smiled a little.

"Who's car we taking?" I asked.

"Let's take the convertible. We can all fit easier in there. When we get back I'll just take my car and drive on home." Bobby suggested.

"Sounds good to me." We walked over to my car.

"Can I drive?"

"Be my guest." I tossed him the keys.

!

We pulled up to Gyp's mansion and I swear to God my jaw dropped. We got out and Tommy walked in first, muttering about how stupid this was. I was next and almost tripped on the steps, but Frankie caught my arm and held me steady.

"You okay?"

"Yeah." I nodded, smiling a little. We walked inside and into one of the many rooms. In there was Norm and an older man who I assumed to be Gyp.

"Hello, Gyp." Frankie nodded. He held out his hand in greeting and Gyp took it.

"Frankie." He nodded his head. They each greeted Gyp one by one before it was finally my turn. I held out my hand for him to shake.

"Hello, Mr. DeCarlo. I'm Tyler Hampton. I know we haven't officially met, so I wanted to introduce myself."

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Hampton." He shook my hand. "Please, sit down. Make yourself comfortable."

"Thank you." I smiled softly and sat. Everyone got themselves a glass of wine. I held mine, but I didn't drink it.

"We're here to resolve a problem." Gyp started. "We're all gentlemen, or a lady," he added in. "We will act in a civilized manner." He raised his glass in spoke in Italian. Everyone, except for me, did the same because I had no idea what that word meant. "How much are we talking about?" he looked over at Norman. Everyone else sat down.

"As of noon today, including the vig," Norman put on his glasses and took out a pocketbook. He looked at it for a second. "One hundred and sixty two large." He quickly put it up.

"Jesus Christ..." I muttered. Gyp looked over at Tommy.

"What were you thinking, Tommy?"

"I don't know, Gyp. It, uh— It always felt like I was playing catch-up with this guy. It just crept up." At this point, it was almost like Gyp was the parent giving a lecture, and Tommy was the child that had a lot of explaining to do. The rest of us were like the siblings watching on, and Norman was like the kid that Tommy beat up or something. That's how this felt.

"I'm surprised he's still walking around." Gyp chuckled.

"I'll be honest with you, Gyp." Norman spoke. "We like their songs. Anybody else, he'd already be in the hospital."

"Come on. Gimme a break, huh? What're you gonna do, huh? You fuck. Sic one of your goons on me?" Tommy snapped.

"Hey. The man is trying to work with you." Nicky glared at him.

"Hey, whose side are you on?"

"_Mine_."

"Yeah, of course you are."

"Asshole."

"I'm an asshole? You're an asshole!"

"From day one, my friend!"

"Fuck you!"

"Fuck you!"

"Fuck you, Nicky!"

"Gentlemen!" Gyp raised his voice. "Our friend Mr. Waxman has a legitimate point."

Nick shot up out of his seat, cutting Gyp off. "Excuse me." He outstretched his arm towards him. "All due respect." He put that one down and pointed at Tommy with the other. "He opened it up. I'm gonna say something." He buttoned his blazer and then yanked the chair away from Frankie, even though Frankie was just resting his hand on it. "I've been rooming with this guy on and off for, what is it, 10 years? This was _not _a walk in the park. This was a _sentence_. A _10-year sentence_." He pointed at Tommy again. "The man is a personal nightmare. He wears the same underwear three days running. He takes no pride in his appearance. In the simple amenities of life. You wanna talk about towels?"

"This isn't the time—" Frankie started. Nicky held up his hand to make him shut up.

"The man cannot be in a hotel without using all the towels. I'm talking face towels, bath towels, the bathmat, the little washcloths. Like he's living alone. You need a towel, you know where it is? In a wet pile on the floor." Frankie started to speak again, but was, once again, shut up by Nicky holding up his hand. "I come back to the room one time; the man is pissing in the sink."

"I never pissed in the sink." Tommy snapped.

"Right in the sink. Right in the fucking sink." At this, each of us had our little reactions. Frankie turned away and looked out the window, Bob and Gyp were shaking their heads, Norman was listening with interest and me... Well... I was grossed out to say the very least. "I say, "Tommy, what's wrong with you? There's a toilet over there." He says "This was closer". This is what I'm dealing with. The man is not properly socialized! Frankie doesn't have to deal with it! Gaudio doesn't! Tyler doesn't have to deal with it! _I've _had to deal with it! _10 years_!" he shouted and sat right back down into his seat. I stared at Nicky for about five seconds. I have never seen him that mad before.

"Okay, Nick. Thank you for sharing that." Gyp looked over at him. "Now, Norm and me, we're gonna take a little walk, work things out. I want you kids to put your heads together. See what you can come up with." He patted Tommy on the shoulder as he started to leave. "And you." He looked at Tommy. "Hey!" he pointed at him. "Stay out of my bathroom."

I tried not to laugh as Gyp and Norm left the room. It was quiet for a moment. Bobby stood as Nicky took a long drink from his wine glass.

"Maybe Gyp can talk some sense into this guy." Frankie said.

"Forget sense." Tommy snapped. "Forget sense. I got a couple of things I could... I could work something out."

"What? Pull a job? Hey, he's gonna roll a 7-Eleven, like the old days." Nick snapped.

"Alright, Nicky, shut your trap, alright, and drink your wine!" Tommy yelled. "DeCarlo's not running this group, _I _am."

"And look where we are." I muttered.

"Shut up." Tommy snapped. "I don't even know what we're doing here, begging Gyp for help. You make me look like an asshole. All of yous."

"You can do that all by yourself, Tommy." Nicky muttered.

"Can we please talk about—?" Frankie started.

"You know what'd be nice? Since I was here before any of you? A little respect!"

"For what? Getting 162 in the hole?"

"Respect can't just be given away, Tommy. It's gotta be earned. And you haven't earned it. At least not from me." I snarled.

"You know something?" Tommy raised his voice. "At least I tried, huh? You think its easy runnin' the group? Dealing with the club owners, the managers, the record companies? Everybody trying to fuck you five ways from Sunday? You don't care how it gets done, Nicky! Or you for that matter." He looked at me. "I took care of it!" he looked between Nicky and me. "_Me_!" he looked at me again. "I don't even know why we let you in this group in the first place! You don't do shit except try and act pretty. I think the only reason why you got in was because of pity."

"Tommy—" Bobby started.

Frankie then turned around, and looked Tommy square in the eye. "Sit down." His voice was quiet, but it was easy to tell he was angry. Tommy scoffed and turned away. "Sit down." Frankie walked up to him, his voice loud and stern. Tommy looked at him. "Sit down." He said again, quietly.

"Alright." Tommy sat down. "Let's get it all out, right? Crucify me, right? Come on."

"Hey, Tommy, you want a cross? It is _the _prop for martyrs." I growled. Tommy started to get up.

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into, little girl."

Frankie pushed him back down. "Right, Tommy."

"Alright." Tommy shook his head and held up his hands for half a second.

"You don't give a shit about the group. You never have. It's always been whatever it is you got going on, and then there's the group. You never wanna rehearse, you drive Nicky to drink, put Bob through the wringer. You always give Tyler shit about anything and everything she does. Forget trying to mess with my head, which you've done from _day one_."

"You don't know what you're talking about, alright?"

"Be quiet for once in your life. You know what the shame of it is, Tommy? You're not a bad musician if you give it a little time. But, nah. You're too busy shooting your mouth off or buying apartments to keep your girlfriends in. But no more. All that bullshit is over."

"This is how you talk to your friends?" Tommy raised his eyebrows. I stood and shook my head, walking over to the window.

"Friends, right. Not one Christmas present. Not one Christmas _card_. Not one time we go for a meal and you pick up the check. Not one time you ask me how my kids are doin', how I'm doin'. God help me, Tommy, part of me would really like to see you _hurt_!"

That seemed to be the breaking point for Tommy. One second, he was sitting in the chair and the next, he grabbed Frankie by the blazer and was shouting in his face. He shoved him down on the couch and continued to yell. The rest of us tried to break them up.

"Hey! Hey! Don't! Come on! Tommy!" Bob shouted.

"You talk to me that way?" Tommy shouted as they pulled him off of Frankie.

"Come on! Get off him, get off!" Nicky shouted.

"Schoolkids!"

Automatically everyone shut up as Gyp and Norm made their way back in. "Leave that outside." Gyp snapped. He looked over at Tommy and spoke in Italian. I walked over to Frankie and put a hand on his shoulder. Frankie had his hand up to his mouth, his back to everyone.

"You okay?" I asked. He didn't respond.

"Alright?" Gyp finished speaking in Italian. What he had said to Tommy, I wasn't sure, but I'm sure it wasn't nice. "Here's how it's gonna go down."

Frankie turned, finally finding his voice. "Excuse me, Me. DeCarlo. The group... We've come to a decision."

"We have?" Nicky looked confused.

"We're gonna pay back every penny Tommy owes."

"Frankie, wait a minute—" Nick started.

"Let me handle this." Frankie snarled. "It's a lousy few hundred grand. We got something going, and it took a lot of work and a lot of years."

"So?"

"So the group takes the debt."

"This is _his _problem. Why do we take _his _debt?"

"Because we're not gonna let it come apart." Frankie looked over at Tommy, who lit a cigarette.

"Is that good enough, Tommy?" Bobby snapped.

"For what?" Tommy looked at him.

"Frankie's singing was never good enough. His _ideas _were never good enough." He walked over to him. "Nothing he ever did was good enough!"

"Lay off..." Frankie told him. Again, he seemed to retreat back into a little hole and hide his face behind his hand.

"The kid who was never good enough is _bailing you out_! So is that good enough?"

"It's a little more complicated than that." Gyp started.

"Why?" Frankie asked, lowering his hand.

"My people are very angry." Norman sat down on the couch. "They want a message sent."

"What message?"

Norm looked at Tommy. "You're movin' to Las Vegas."

"What for?" Tommy looked confused.

"Your health. We're gonna keep an eye on you. We see you outside of Nevada, it gets ugly."

"No way. No way." There was no question that Tommy already hated this idea. "Not Nevada. Better throw me in the river."

Norm shrugged. "Your choice."

"Wait a minute." Frankie's eyes widened. "For how long?"

"Till it's paid off."

"But we're in the middle of a tour." He looked at Gyp.

"Best I could do." Gyp said.

"But what happens to the group?"

"I'll tell you what happens to the group." Tommy snapped. "Nothing. You know why? Because it's still on paper that I own 20 percent. So suck on that."

"I got a better idea." Bobby spoke up and looked at Norm. "A clean break. We buy him out."

"Huh? What? No, no, no, no, no. _You_ don't buy _me_ out, _I_ buy _you_ out."

Bobby just stared at him. "With what, Tommy?"

"Alright. Fine. Buy me out. It's over anyway. How many more hits do you and that little chickadee over there think you're gonna write?"

Bobby glared at him and walked away a few steps, up to the window.

"Alright, wait a minute. Wait a minute." Frankie crossed his arms. He walked up to Tommy. "Anything else we don't know about?"

"I maybe borrowed a little from the tax accountant."

Bobby turned at stared at him.

"How much?" Frankie tried to stay emotionless.

"Half a mil. In that neighborhood."

"Oof." Gyp grimaced.

"Fucking Christ..." I sat down and put my head in my hands. Even Norm looked surprised.

"Alright. We're gonna take that too." Frankie said after a few seconds.

"Frankie, what are you—?" Nicky about lost it. Frankie looked at him.

"I said let me handle it." Frankie looked back at Norm. "The loan, the taxes... We take it all."

"Shit..." I muttered.

"Alright." Gyp nodded slightly. "That's it then. Norm. Tommy." He jerked his thumb at the door. "Excuse us."

Norm put his glasses on and began to leave. Tommy started to follow but stopped.

"Hey, Frankie." He looked at him. "Frankie." Frankie, whose arms were crossed, slowly looked up at Tommy. "It's that bad, huh?" Frankie didn't answer him and, with a shake of his head, Tommy left.

"Frankie... You are digging a million-dollar hole for yourself..." Gyp shook his head.

"Tommy took me off the streets, Gyp. What's that worth?"

"You'll be on the road till you're 90. You want, I could arrange a loan."

"Thanks, Mr. DeCarlo." Bobby spoke up. "But I don't want anybody involved in our future besides me, Tyler, and Frankie."

"Hey, I just realized something..." Nicky said softly. "I don't wanna be in this group anymore."

"Not now, Nicky." Frankie pleaded.

"No, forget that. I wanna go home."

"What are you talking about?"

"I wanna go home."

"Okay, good idea. After the tour, we'll take a break." Frankie walked over to him.

"No. _Now_. I quit."

"You can't quit." Bobby put his hands in his pockets.

"Hey, I got his attention. Hi, Bob." Nicky rolled his eyes and grabbed his car keys.

"Nicky... Nicky, we're in the middle of a tour."

"Yeah. You know, I always hated the touring. Fucking hotels. Those tiny little bars of soap. You're supposed to wash with that stuff? You can't even _see _it."

"Hey, Nicky, you're talking crazy. Calm down and we'll figure it out." Frankie walked over to him.

"I've already figured it out. I'll make it real easy for you. I don't want any money. I don't want any side deals. All I want is out."

"Well, you're right about the soap." Gyp started, trying to grab Nicky's arm, but he stormed off. "Hey, Nicky. Nicky." Gyp followed him out of the house.

"Nick! Nicky!" Bob yelled. "We're in the middle of a damn tour! Are you crazy?"

Frankie sat in a chair and put his head in his hands.

"Well this is fucking amazing." I muttered.


	17. Help for Fran

Chapter Sixteen

A week or so later, Frankie, Bobby and I sat at a booth in a diner. Our song, _Stay_, was playing softly in the background.

"You want Tyler and me to go out there by _ourselves_? Are you nuts?"

"Look, there's a lot of great back up guys out there, right? There's... Joe Long, Charlie Calello. We find two more and put you and Tyler in front. Get a great drummer. A horn section, like we talked about. Like Basie and the Kenton Band."

"What do you do?"

"Write and produce."

Frankie shook his head. "I don't like it."

"Why?"

"'Cause you're crapping out on me. I thought we had a handshake."

"We do."

"I wake up in the middle of the night, I don't know where I am. I think, "What the hell happened? What's gonna happen? Everybody leaves". Why does everybody leave?" he took a drink of his coffee.

"Frankie. This is your time."

There was a slight pause before Frankie spoke up. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Get me to agree to stuff."

"It's a gift." Bobby held out his hand and Frankie shook it. I did the same not too long after.

"Alright. Looks like a another deal." I nodded.

!

So, while Bob's at home with his family, Frankie and I are on the road, 200 nights a year, busting our asses off, doing anything we can dig up. Night clubs, hotels, private parties, anything.

"_I can see_

_There ain't no room for me_

_You're only holding out your heart_

_In sympathy_

_If there's another man_

_Then girl I understand_

_Go on and take his hand_

_And don't you worry 'bout me_

_I'll be blue_,"

"_I'll be blue_," I sang.

"_And I'll be cryin' too_,"

"_Cryin' too_,"

"_But, girl, you know_

_I only want what's best for you_

_What good is all my pride_

_Without you, love has died,_

_Go on and be his bride_

_And don't you worry 'bout me_."

!

Later that night, we were paid. We didn't split it half and half. We pocketed it and added to the amount we already had to pay off that stupid debt.

I never told Bob this baby was his. At this point, I'm the furthest I've ever been in a pregnancy—eight months. Frankie insisted on me getting my rest, that if I wasn't careful I'd stress myself out into early labor. I told him I was fine. If I've done it this long, I could do it for another month.

We were at a café, looking at a map, as a roach passed by us and fell off.

"Yeah, you and me both, pal." Frankie muttered.

"Mr. Valli." A man walked up. "You got a collect call from Jersey."

We looked at each other before Frankie got up and walked over to the phone. Not one minute later, he hurried over and grabbed his things.

"We're goin' to Jersey. Now."

"What's going on?"

"I'll explain it later. C'mon."

!

We were at Mary's house. I sat down at the table while Frankie was pacing.

"Alright... Where is she?" Frankie snapped.

"You tell me. She's your daughter too." Mary snarled. They started arguing and at one point Mary banged both hands on the table, shouting "She needs a father!"

"How about a mother?!" Frankie shouted back. "Pull yourself together!"

The phone rang and Frankie was the first to grab it since Mary drained whatever alcohol she had in her glass. "Shit," he muttered and then picked it up. "Hello." Apparently there was no answer. "Hello?" there was a pause before I saw Frankie's shoulders sag in relief. "Francine." Mary shot up and ran over to the doorway. "Where are you, sweetheart? Your mother, aunt Tyler and I are worried sick." I slowly stood, shoving my hands into my pockets. There was another pause. "Sweetheart, you just can't disappear off the face of the earth for two days. You gotta leave a note, or something." He paused for a bit. "Look. Your aunt Tyler and I just took a plane halfway across the country." At this, Mary rolled her eyes. "You got any money for a cab? Just get in a cab and come home." There was a pause.

"Frankie..." Mary reached for the phone but Frankie held up a hand. Mary rolled her eyes and got her cigarettes.

"That's different, Francine." Frankie snapped. I saw his eyebrows shoot up. "Don't talk to me like that, Francine, I'm your father—!" he stopped for a second. "Francine?" he looked at the phone for a minute before slamming it down. Mary sat down in a chair.

"Good job, Dad." She mocked him. Frankie looked back at her before going towards the door.

"Tyler. We're leaving."

"Now?"

"Yes. Now." He snapped. I sighed and started for the door but stopped and looked at Mary.

"See you on Thursday?"

"Same damn café." Mary nodded.

"Alright." I nodded. "I'll call you."

"Alright."

And with that, Frankie and I walked out of the house.

!

We sat in a café, waiting for this friend of Frankie's to find Francine and bring her here. Finally, they arrived. Frankie nodded once.

"Thanks, Johnny." He said quietly.

"Anytime, Frankie. Tyler." Johnny nodded his head and left. Francine glared at the two of us.

"Sit down, Francine."

She did as told, sitting as far away as she could from the two of us.

"How'd you find me?"

"I got friends who have friends on the street." Frankie crossed his arms.

"You mean your friends in the Mob?" Francine snapped.

"You want something?"

"Coke."

"What about you?" he looked over at me. I shook my head and nodded at my coffee.

"This is good."

Frankie nodded once. "Can we get a Coke over here?"

The server nodded. "Sure." Not too long after, she set a Coke and a straw in front of Francine.

"Listen, Francine..." Frankie started. "I made some mistakes. I wasn't around enough. Your mother... We all know about her. I should have stepped in, but... It's hard to balance the home and the work." Francine started digging around in her purse. "Maybe someday, you'll have a family and you'll understand that." Francine took out a pack of cigarettes and took one out. Frankie leaned forward. "Hey. Alright. Gimme that." He held his hand out. Francine handed him the cigarette and he threw it into the ashtray. "You wanna be a singer, first thing is you stop that. You could be a great singer. You got my chops, you got your mother's beauty. You can have everything you want. But you gotta get it together. What's wrong with you? Running around like this?" Francine began to cry. "Look, I know how hard it is. You got something you wanna share with the world and nobody gives a shit. But then things turn around. You have to have patience, and you gotta keep working. We're gonna turn things around. Alright? I'm gonna help you. Your aunt Tyler and I, we're gonna help you." Francine nodded. "I'm gonna get you in singing lessons. You're gonna start eating right, gonna start exercising. We set it up with Bob Crewe, he's gonna record you a demo. Four songs. All you. We're gonna get out of this nightmare. You can do this. This is what you want, right? Right?" Francine nodded, trying to hold back her tears. "Come here." Frankie held out his hand. Francine took it. "I believe in you. We both do. I'm glad you're here with me."

I smiled softly. "I'll let you two be alone." I stood slowly. Francine looked up at me.

"Aunt Tyler?"

"Yeah?" I looked at her.

"I love you."

"I love you too." I smiled and went into the bathroom.


	18. Michael Antonio Valli

Chapter Seventeen

I walked up to Frankie's apartment as Lorraine walked out.

"Hey, Lorraine..." I looked at the suitcase. "What's with that?"

"I gotta go to Boston on a story."

"When will you be back?"

Lorraine shrugged. "I'm not sure, Tyler. Probably never." Her voice is quiet.

"What're you talking about?"

"I broke up with Frankie."

"Oh." My eyes widened. "I'm sorry..."

"It's fine. I just..." she shut her eyes for a second and shook her head. "I just couldn't take it anymore. He was always on the road, and we hardly ever saw each other. It was just... It was time." She nodded. "Besides, he's crazy about you anyway."

"No he's—"

"Trust me." Lorraine smiled softly.

"Well, do you want to.. I don't know... Get together sometime? Hang out?"

"Sure." She smiled softly. "I gotta go, I'll miss my flight."

"Alright, I'll see you." I walked up to the door of Frankie's apartment and lightly knocked on it.

"Lorraine?" I heard his voice from the other side.

"No, Frankie. It's Tyler." I said. The door opened and he smiled a little then stepped to the side, letting me in. I looked around before hearing him shut the door. "I saw Lorraine in the hallway."

"She told you, huh?"

"Yeah... I'm sorry, Frankie." I messed with my skirt. For most women that were pregnant to term, you would think that I'd be huge, but in reality it wasn't that bad. Just a small bump that you would see someone about six months having. "Look, I just..."

"It's fine. It was going to happen anyway. All we really did was argue."

I nodded and sat down. He sat next to me. "This is how it was with Mary too, you know?" he continued. I looked over at him. "All we ever did was argue. I think I'm done with relationships, they never last." He shakes his head.

"You just need to find the right person." I shrugged. He looked over at me. "I mean, how can you give up when you obviously haven't found that person? That person could be anyone. They could be a random stranger you encounter in two days, or someone you know, or..." I trailed off as he got closer to me. "...your best friend." My voice grew quiet for a second. Frankie put a hand on the back of my neck, gently, and kissed me softly. Suddenly all those pent up feelings that I had for him were released and I kissed back, my arms going around him. I felt so light, like I could fly away. My hands shook a little, but that always happens I guess when you really like someone. I kept these feelings to myself for so long, and now... His lips. His lips were so soft, and on mine it was like... Pure Heaven. I felt a hard kick and we pulled away. "I think the baby's jealous." I joked quietly.

"Well, he can get over it."

"You mean she?" I raised my eyebrows. Frankie smiled softly and kissed me again. There was another kick, harder this time, and I pulled away, wincing.

"What's wrong?"

"These kicks, they just..." I took in a sharp breath. "Keep getting harder and harder." I cried a little. Frankie's eyes soon widened in realization.

"Get in the car." He helped me up. "We need to get you to the hospital. _Now_."

!

It lasted well into the morning, and at seven thirty, little Michael was born. I was exhausted, but I wanted to stay up to hold my son. This kid was a miracle. After four miscarriages, I finally got a son. He was perfect. All ten little fingers and toes. Two big brown eyes with a tuft of red hair on his head.

I knew those eyes anywhere.

"He looks just like him, you know?" Frankie said quietly. I nodded. He had been in there with me during the whole birth. I was too scared to be alone.

"He does." I said quietly. "Thank you for being in here with me." I looked up at him.

"Should we call him?"

"I don't know... Bob's with his wife. I don't want to disrupt their marriage." I shook my head. Michael cooed quietly in my arms. Frankie smiled at him softly before looking at me.

"Maybe you don't have to."

"What're you talking about?"

"If you want, I'll take him in as my son."

"Frankie, you don't have—"

"I want to."

I smiled softly. "Okay." I looked down at my son, who looked up at me. "Michael..." I started thinking. "Antonio Valli."

"I love it."

I looked back up at Frankie, who was smiling.

!

"I love how I never have traditional weddings." I joked. Frankie laughed as we walked out of the courthouse. Francine was behind us, holding little Michael, who was now two months old. I looked around. "Francine, make sure his little face is covered."

"I am." Francine put her hand around Michael's face to guard him from the sun.

"Well, I promise, as soon as we have time to spare, we can have a big church wedding, okay?" Frankie looked at me.

"Okay." I smiled and kissed him quickly.

"Come on, you guys, not in front of the kid. He's so young, don't traumatize him." Francine joked.

"Funny, Fran." I smiled. She laughed quietly as we all got in the car.

!

Everything was moving so fast, almost as if my life was a blur now. I divorced and then just a few months later I remarry, my current husband promising the father to the son I had with my last husband.

I wondered how everything was in 2014. If it was in the 2020's now. How did my grandmother take my disappearance? Was she okay? My grandfather, how was he? My mind soon went to my parents.

"_You won't be anything! You'll be just like your father! A drug addict who never even finished college and will be happy working at minimum wage jobs, just like him!"_

"_You don't know me! You don't know who I am or what my aspirations are!"_

I shut my eyes tightly, trying to get rid of the memories.

"_You know, Tyler. There are times when I just don't care anymore."_

"_Care about what?"_

"_You. All the doctors said you were a boy. We had everything picked out for a boy. But you came instead, and ruined my chance to have a son."_

I shook a little, covering my eyes and curling up into a ball, trying to protect myself from the invisible demons. I felt arm around me.

"Hey, hey..." Frankie's voice filled my ears. "Shh... It's okay." He held me close. I turned and got close to him. With him, I felt truly safe.


	19. Fallen Angel

Chapter Eighteen

A few weeks later, the debt was gone. Norman, Gyp, and Bobby stood in our apartment, fully dressed, while Frankie and I just wore our robes and nightclothes. I held Michael in my arms as he slept.

"Fourteen nine, 14,950, 15,000." Norm counted. "Okay, we're good." He put the money all together.

"Everybody's whole now, right?" Gyp asked. Norm nodded once and then looked at my husband.

"Frankie, you know it was nothing personal."

"Norm." Gyp said. "Say goodbye."

Norman stood, putting the money in an ugly tan bag. "Take care, gentlemen, Mrs. Valli."

I smiled softly and nodded once.

"I told you, if you do the work, everything follows." Gyp looked at Frankie.

"Heh." Frankie laughed dryly. Gyp picked up a glass of champagne and handed it to Frankie. Bobby reached for his as Gyp handed me mine. "Thanks."

"Thank you."

"Long life." Gyp held out his glass.

"Long life."

"Long life." Bobby, Frankie, and I spoke almost at the same time.

"And, to the newlyweds." Gyp smiled at us. We clinked all of our glasses together and then set them down. The phone rang and I looked at Michael to make sure he didn't cry.

"Ah. It's my daughter Francine. She calls every Friday at 10." He smiled, walking over to the phone.

"That's good Frankie." Gyp nodded.

"She's playing Victoria's in Plainfield." He picked up the phone. "Francine, just a second, okay? Just a minute." He set the phone down on the table.

"Alright, call me later." Bobby said, giving Frankie a quick hug.

"Alright."

He gave me a quick hug. "Congratulations on your son." He smiled softly.

"Thank you." I beamed. Bobby walked out first and Frankie walked up to Gyp, giving him a handshake.

"Thanks again." They hugged quickly and I sat down on the couch as Frankie picked the phone back up. "Francine, you'll never guess who was just here." He paused. "Excuse me?" he paused again, and a look of panic swept over his face. "Yes, this is her father." I sat up, looking at him. "Is something wrong? Is she alright?" his eyes widened and stood as he kept listening to whoever was on the other end of the phone. I walked into the nursery we had put together through the last couple of months and then walked back out. Frankie had the phone up to his ear, but wasn't speaking. A few tears slipped out of his eyes and he nodded. "Thank you..." he nodded again and hung up the phone.

"Frankie...?" I asked quietly. Frankie sat on the couch, his head in his hands. He was trying to hide it, but I heard him crying. I sat next to him and put an arm around him. "What happened? Is Fran okay?" I stroked his hair.

"Fucking drugs..." he whispered.

"What about drugs?"

"She overdosed..."

"Oh, shit..." I hugged him and he hugged me back tightly. I felt the tears slip out of my own eyes. He shook as he sobbed and I did my best to keep my composure, but I couldn't help crying myself.

I watched her grow up into a beautiful young lady. Like her parents, I was there from day one. Now, Francine being gone, it just ripped out a huge chunk of my heart.

!

A few days later, we were at her funeral. The preacher read from the Bible and a big picture of Francine, smiling and happy, was among the flower wreaths that were around the casket. I heard Mary sob quietly. Both of Frankie's parents were by her side, and I couldn't help but cuss them out in my head. I loved Mary. I did, but she wasn't the only one who lost a daughter here. Michael cooed a little and I hushed him by shielding his face from the sun. Frankie stood there, trying his best to hold back his own tears. He had been crying hard these last few days. In a way, I know his pain, but I don't. I had only a few months with the babies I lost. Frankie, well, he had twenty years with his daughter. It had to be a lot harder than three or four months.

"For this is our God, forever and ever." The preacher said. Practically everyone was here. Bobby and his wife. Crewe. Frankie's other daughters. Even a few cops were here. Gyp was here as well, standing near to where we were.

!

I talked to a few people at the funeral, including Mary who was just a bunch of sobs more than half the time.

"I just... I can't..." she began sobbing. Frankie's mother rubbed her back. I looked up at her for a moment before turning back to Mary. "I want her here. With me." Mary stomped her foot.

"I know, Mary." I said quietly.

"Is that so selfish?" she began bawling again.

"No, it's not. I feel the same way."

Mary leaned into me and I looked up at Mrs. Castelluccio. "Can you take Michael?" I mouthed. She nodded and took him into her arms. Michael practically started crying but she quieted him down after a while. I hugged Mary, who cried into my shoulder. After a while, her sobs subsided and she looked up. I smiled softly and she smiled back the best she could.

"She wanted me to get off the stuff, you know." She said quietly.

"Then do it. Do it for Fran. I'll help you."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

Mary swallowed hard. "Thank you for being here for me."

"Anytime. You helped me out nineteen years ago, now it's my turn."

Mary sobbed and nodded a couple of times. I hugged her again.

!

"Frankie!" I called. I held Michael in my arms again, and was out looking for Frankie. He just up and left at one point, I didn't know where he went. Finally, after a couple of minutes of searching, I found him sitting on a bench. I sat next to him. "Hey." I said quietly.

"Hey." His voice sounded scratchy.

"How're you doing?"

"I feel numb." He shook his head. "I just... I can't... I can't process anything right now. This all feels like a dream."

"I know, I feel the same way."

"Why would she... Why... Why would she do all this to herself? I thought she was getting better."

"Sometimes, Frankie... Addicts try. They do. And Fran was really trying. But I think maybe the temptation was too strong. Trust me. I come from a family full of addicts. I know what I'm talking about."

"I just wanted to help her, you know?"

"And you were."

"Apparently it wasn't good enough."

I put a hand on his back and rubbed it a little bit. This would be an awful long hurdle for him to get over, and me too, but we would do it.

And we'd do it together.


	20. The Song

Chapter Nineteen

I'm one of those that can't wake up out of a sound sleep, unless it's Michael crying. But one thing that woke me up, that scared me, is sobs. It had been a week since Francine's funeral, and Frankie was still an absolute wreck.

I turned around and saw him pretty much curled up in a ball. I put my arm around him, mainly shielding him from any internal demons (or at least trying to) and I felt him grab my hand tightly. I could feel the tears fall down and onto my hand, and it made me want to cry.

!

The next day, we sat in a booth waiting for Bobby. It was probably the first time I didn't have Michael with me. He was at Frankie's parents' house, getting to know his adoptive grandparents a little more.

Frankie was staring either at the table or at the window. It was really a hassle to get him out of the house. Reminds me of when I lost my kids.

Underneath the table, I gently took his hand in mine. All I could feel was a slight squeeze in response, but he never let go.

Bobby walked by the window for a second, knocked on it to get Frankie's attention (all he did was nod once) and then Bobby hurried inside. It was snowing outside, and the snow was getting pretty intense.

When Bobby walked in, we saw that he had a manila envelope in his hands.

"Get you a plaque on this booth." He joked, sitting down. "How you doing?"

"Never better." Frankie didn't look at him.

"Yeah..." Bobby took off his scarf. "I got something I think belongs to you." He lightly shoved the envelope his way. "Open it." Frankie grabbed the envelope and opened it. "Crewe and I got together."

"Oh congrats." I joked. Bobby just looked at me, a slight smile on his face.

"You know what I meant, smartass." He smiled.

When Frankie saw when it was I that envelope, he sighed and set it down and away from him.

"Bob, I just buried a child. You want me to sing a love song?"

"First off, you won't be alone singing it. I wrote a part for Tyler too. You gotta climb out of this, Frankie. It'll kill you."

Frankie looked down at his hands for a second before looking at Bobby again. "She had a bigger range than me. Did you know that? And in here," he pointed at his heart. "She had it. What was I supposed to do, put her on a leash? Chain her to the bed?" he looked out the window. "They grow up, they go out... and some _stu cazzo _with a bottle of pills is waiting and it's over." I took his hand in mine again.

"Don't blame yourself." Bobby said quietly.

"Really?" Frankie looked at him. "Who then?"

After a beat of silence, Bobby finally spoke. "Alright, look. Do me a favor." He put the song back in the envelope. "Just take it home. Look at it. There's something not quite right in the release. Maybe you or Tyler will have an idea." He handed the envelope to Frankie again.

"Bob, I don't know—"

"Just... Look at it." Bobby stood and took off his scarf and put it around Frankie. "Here. Wear this, would you? We don't need you catching pneumonia too." He looked at me. "Keep him safe. Watch him. Help him go over that song."

"I will." I nodded. And with that, Bobby left.

"I'm not going to do anything drastic." Frankie muttered.

"I know you're not, but... We're all worried about you. Me especially."

"I'll be fine."

"I know, but... Right now, it just... Right now we're just worried. I never heard you cry so loud before and last night..."

"Well I lost a child, Tyler, what the hell am I supposed to do?" he snapped, looking at me. "What, you want me to rejoice? Have a party?"

"No." I shook my head. "I wasn't saying that..." I jumped back at his harsh tone. Almost like when I was being lectured by my grandmother, I looked away and around the diner, staring at whatever was on the walls. I heard Frankie sigh.

"Tyler... I'm sorry, I'm just..."

I looked back at him and put an arm around him. "It's okay; you have nothing to apologize for." I kissed the side of his head. He started to cry quietly again. "You have nothing to apologize for..."

!

Around three in the morning, I woke up to Frankie talking on the phone. I really had to go to the bathroom, but I just wanted to hear what he had to say.

"You know, the problem is you're modulating up after the bridge, and I don't think you should. You listening?" he paused. I smiled. So he did look at the song. I turned around and sat up. He looked at me, mouthed "Bobby" and pointed at the phone. I nodded and smiled softly again. "Yeah. You know, your music and Crewe's lyric, they're working really well together. You know, you goose it up too much, I don't know, it gets cheesy. Maybe a few notes here and there." He paused again. "I'll check my schedule." And with that he hung up.

"Are you doing the song?" I stretched a little. He looked at me.

"_We _are. They wrote this as a duet and it's gonna be one."

I smiled softly. "I'm glad you're doing this." my voice was quiet. "There's always going to be a part of you that misses Fran, and a part of me too, but there's just a time where, you know..."

"You gotta get back on the horse." He nodded.

"Exactly." I stroked his hair. "I'm glad you looked over the song. You wouldn't be you if you didn't."

"I'm still me." He nodded. "That's not gonna change."

"And I hope it never does. I married Frankie Valli. That's who I want to stay with. Not just some other weird...version."

He smiled a little, leaned over, and gently kissed my cheek. "Don't worry." He pulled away. It was the first smile that I've seen in ages.

"Well if you say not to, then I won't." I smiled back. "You need to shave."

That earned a chuckle out of him. "Tomorrow. I don't want to right now."

"Okay. Done deal." I kissed him quickly.


	21. Can't Take My Eyes Off You

Chapter Twenty

"Okay, people, take five. Five-minute break." Said the man at the microphone. I sighed quietly and ran a hand through my hair. Frankie stood at the keyboard, talking about the song before going and sitting behind the glass, talking to the guy behind the microphone about it. Bobby and the president of a record company walked in.

"I sprung for the session. What else do you want from me?" the man snapped.

"Release the song." Bobby held a copy of the song in his hands.

"I don't know what to do with it! It's too hard for pop, too soft for rock.

"But, Al, look, it's a new kind of song. You're the president of a record company. Do the right thing. Fine the _next _thing."

Oh. Al. That was his name.

"Bobby...! What are you busting my chops? You drag me down here to hear some fucking art song that's never gonna get any airplay."

"Okay, listen. Listen to me." Bobby stopped him from leaving. "Frankie and Tyler are going through hell right now, especially Frankie, and we've made you a _lot _of money. So come on. Do the right thing. Because, deep down, very, very, _very _deep down, I know that you are a decent human being."

"I'll be candid with you, my friend. Frankie's okay, and Tyler's alright. He's no Neil Sedaka and she ain't no Doris Day." He started to leave.

"Alright, then I want out of our contract."

Those words made Al stop cold and face him. Bobby continued.

"And I'm taking you to court to get back our masters."

"You don't have the balls."

"_Try me_!"

"Okay." Al spoke after a beat or two. "Call me sentimental. Here's the deal: You get some stations to play it, I'll release the damn song. They say no, you take your little work of art and stick where the sun don't shine."

"Thank you, Al, you're a class act. It's very nice. Say hi to the kids. Merry Christmas." Bobby looked over at me and I clapped a few times. He smiled, bowed and then stood upright. Crewe, who had been watching the whole thing, walked up to him. I followed soon after.

"So how did that go?" he asked, as if he didn't know.

"Good. Very good."

"Noise." Crewe held up his hand for a second. "So where do you wanna break the song?"

I opened my mouth to say 'Dallas' but Bobby beat me to it.

"Detroit. The Roostertail."

Okay. Detroit's good too.

"Detroit..." Crewe thought for a second. "That's WJR. I know that guy." He began to walk around us. "Marty something. Mr. First Nighter. Three hundred pounds. Disgusting. So, we get him in there... We lay on the food, we lay on the booze, we give him the full treatment. Tyler, you and Frankie make beautiful music. The guy's a moron, but he's not stupid."

"I know people like that."

"They're a dying breed, my friend. But once he hears the crowd, you'll get you airplay. Don't worry."

"That's just Detroit." Bobby broke in.

"Let me finish. So we follow up," I could tell Crewe was getting excited. "Philly, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco. You start a little movement." He started walking backwards, looking at Bobby, who followed him. "People start talking. They talk more. It's a chain reaction. "Where did you find that song?"" and with that, Bobby and Crewe went through the doors as Frankie walked back into the studio. I stood there, shaking my head and smiling.

"What?" Frankie looked confused.

"Crewe. He's funny when he gets real excited."

Frankie smiled a little, walking over to the stand under the microphone. I followed.

"Alright." He said quietly.

"Stations start getting calls." We heard Crewe over the microphone. ""We wanna hear that song." "Where is that song?"" at this point, he started to get really animated, almost like a cartoon character. ""What is wrong with you people?"" he grabbed Bobby by his jacket and shook him lightly.

"Okay, everybody." The man said. Crewe grabbed some sheet music.

""Play the fucking song already!"" he threw the sheet music into the air. I tried not to laugh. Bobby's eyes widened and he looked around. I wasn't sure if he was scared or if he was just in shock at Crewe's reaction. Either way, it was hilarious.

The band began to play the song, and Frankie and I got ready.

"_You're just too good to be true_," Frankie sang quietly. "_Can't take my eyes off you_

_You'd be like heaven to touch_

_I wanna hold you so much_

_At long last love has arrived_

_And I thank God I'm alive."_

!

We were at the Roostertail, putting on a show for the guy at that Detroit radio station. He looked snazzy in a white tuxedo jacket and shirt with a black bowtie, slacks, and dress shoes while I wore a knee-length white dress, which was form fitting (sadly, it showed the very small amount of baby fat that I had yet to lose), with my hair, which had grown out just a bit and the perm was gone, was curled once again and held up with hairspray. The make up was soft, a silver smoky eye effect and soft pink lipstick.

"_You're just too good to be true_

_Can't take my eyes off you_." Here the music officially started.

"_Pardon the way that I stare_," I sang softly. "_There's nothing else to compare_

_The sight of you leaves me weak_," I looked over at Frankie, who was patiently waiting for his turn to sing.

"_There are no words left to speak_

_But if you feel like I feel_

_Please let me know that it's real_

_You're just too good to be true_

_Can't take my eyes off you_."

The two of us turned as the horn section blared, playing the notes beautifully. Frankie was snapping his fingers. The two of us looked at each other and I winked at him. He shot me a small smile in return and soon after the both of us spun on our heels.

"_I love you, baby_," we sang

"_And if it's quite alright_

_I need you, baby_

_To warm the lonely nights_

_I love you, baby_

_Trust in me when I say_

_Oh, pretty baby_

_Don't bring me down, I pray_

_Oh, pretty baby_

_Now that I've found you stay_

_And let me love you, baby_

_Let me love you_."

"_You're just too good to be true_," the music quieted down as Frankie sang alone. "_Can't take my eyes off you_

_You'd be like heaven to touch_

_I wanna hold you so much_

_At long last love has arrived_

_And I thank God I'm alive_

_You're just too good to be true_

_Can't take my eyes off you_,"

We turned, Frankie snapping his fingers again. I was grinning so wide I couldn't hold it in. When it was time, the two of us turned again.

"_I love you, baby_," we sang,

"_And if it's quite alright_

_I need you, baby_

_To warm the lonely nights_

_I love you, baby_

_Trust in me when I say_

_Oh, pretty baby_

_Don't bring me down, I pray_

_Oh, pretty baby_

_Now that I've found you stay_

_And let me love you, baby_

_Let me love you_."

"_You're just too good to be true_," Frankie sang on his own, ending the song. When it was over, the place was in an uproar. People stood and cheered, their cries just as loud as when they were back in the old days. Frankie was smiling, but he was still hurting. He was better though, and in my mind I thanked Bobby for that, because only Lord knows how long it would've taken him to come back to the business. I walked over, my white heels making me an inch taller than him.

"Frankie Valli, everybody, come on!" I grinned and took his hand. I kissed his cheek. "You were perfect." I whispered in his ear. Frankie and I then took our bows and hurried back to our hotel.

!

I giggled like I was seventeen and jumped on the bed.

"That was fucking amazing!" Frankie, who walked in behind me, took off his jacket and set it on the chair.

"It felt nice being back up there again." He smiled a little.

"See there?" I smiled and walked over to him, hugging him. "You were perfect out there." I pulled away slightly, but he still held me in his arms. "I'm so proud of you." I beamed and kissed him quickly as Bobby walked in, a bottle of champagne in his hand.

"Let's get this party started!" he said as the two of us pulled away. I smiled at him.

"You brought the good shit too, good boy. I'll get the cups." I hurried into the hotel bathroom where all those little cups were.

"I'm telling you, Frankie, this song is going to be on the top of the charts." I heard Bobby say. I came back out with three cups and set them down on the table.

"I hope so." Frankie smiled. Bobby opened the champagne and automatically it began to fizz as the cork flew to God knows where. I quickly held out my cup, Frankie doing the same. After, Bobby poured himself a little and we all looked at each other.

"Here's to Can't Take My Eyes Off You,"

"Here's to a Grammy nomination," Frankie held his cup up. I grinned.

"Here's to new beginnings."

We put our cups together and then took a drink.

Things were looking up.


	22. Life Goes On

Chapter Twenty One

In 1981, I learned I was pregnant once again. I figured it was no big deal, it would be as smooth as my one with Michael. But, nearing my due date, I looked like a whale. I was a lot bigger than I anticipated myself to be, and frankly, I was scared I would get fat after this. Of course that thought was tossed out the window when I felt the labor pains.

So, on November 14, 1981, I had not one baby, not two...but triplets.

When I learned I was having three babies, I about lost it. The doctor never picked up on it. The nurses said that it was possibly because the other two were hiding behind the bigger one. So I had one naturally, the other two Caesarian.

My stomach was forever ruined by a scar, but I really didn't care.

The babies were named Calvino Andrew, a spitting image of his father (I had always liked that name anyway, I don't know why I didn't name Michael that), Jovanna Maria, and Anastasia Katherine.

Calvino was quiet, mainly cooing every now and again. Jovanna wasn't loud, but she cried every so often.

But Anastasia... She was the loudest baby I ever heard.

The crying started again around four in the morning. Automatically the both of us woke with a groan. I put my pillow over my face for a moment to try to block it out but then threw it down.

"Frankie. Go get Ana, it's your turn."

"No, it was my turn last time." I heard Frankie grumble.

"Frankie, dammit!"

"Okay, okay!" Frankie got up out of bed and I heard him stub one of his toes. He muttered a quiet "Ow, dammit," and then went on about his way into the nursery. I sighed quietly. Over the next few minutes, Ana's cries subsided, and Frankie's voice drifted into the room.

"_My eyes adored you_

_Though I never laid a hand on you_

_My eyes adored you_

_Like a million miles away from me_

_You couldn't see how I adored you_

_So close, so close_

_And yet so far_,"

!

By the time they reached their terrible twos, they were like hell to keep up with. Michael would sit on the couch, watching TV, while Frankie and I ran around, chasing Calvino and Jovanna.

Mainly Calvino.

"No, put that—Put that down!" Frankie tripped over a toy and then hurried after his son, who was, currently, carrying his father's glasses and messing with them to the point of breaking. I, on the other hand, was trying my best to get the scissors away from Jovanna.

"Jo, you want a cookie? C'mon. If you give Mommy the scissors, Mommy will give you a chocolate chip cookie."

Jovanna seemed to fall for it at first, but when I got closer, she hurried away.

"Dammit!"

"Dammit!"

The second was from Michael, who was laughing. I jumped up from behind the couch. "Michael Antonio Valli, what did you say?"

Automatically, Michael's big brown eyes got a little bigger. He swallowed hard and messed with his hands.

"Michael." My tone was stern.

"I said 'dammit'."

"You can't say that. Only grown-ups can."

"Why?"

"Because. It's the rules."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Why?'

"Because."

"Why?"

"AHA!"

Frankie got his glasses from his son and put them on a shelf to where Calvino couldn't get to them. Anastasia, who had been taking a nap, toddled out of the bedroom and looked around for a moment, her little red ringlets bouncing with every step, before she sat on the floor and watched everyone. I spotted Jovanna hiding behind the chair and hurried over to her, getting the scissors out of her hands and putting them up high. Then I picked her up and had her look at me, her jet black hair covering part of her face.

"See, Jo? This is what happens when you're a grown-up. You always win."

!

A few years later, when the triplets were five and Michael was seven, we were finally able to relax. The kids were in bed and asleep and we finally had time to ourselves.

I was the first to plop down on the couch, groaning as I did so. Frankie did the same not too seconds later.

"I blame you." I said after a second. I saw Frankie's eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"For what?" he looked at me.

"For making me have triplets."

He started laughing. I snuggled up close to him and placed a hand on his chest. He put his arm around me and rubbed my arm for a second.

"Wanna watch a movie?"

"Depends. What did you have in mind?"

"I was thinking something along the lines of maybe—"

"Daddy!" Anastasia cried. Frankie leaned his head back with a quiet groan.

"Damn."

"Daddy!" she cried again.

"Daddy's coming!" he stood slowly. "I'm too old for this shit..." he muttered. I laughed quietly.

!

In 1990, when the triplets were nine and Michael was eleven, we got some surprising news.

It was a phone call from Bobby that we had gotten (though we had missed it because we were out at Jovanna's dance recital) that told us the news.

"_Hey, it's Bobby_." It started. "_Listen, I've got some news for you. We're being inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame later this year. Now I don't know when, they didn't give me a specific date yet, but I'm going to call Nicky and Tommy, and let them know._" He sounded really excited. "_Call me, alright? Talk to you later_."

I grinned.

"The Rock n Roll Hall of Fame!" I squealed and hugged Frankie, who was in complete shock.

"Wow... What an honor... I can't believe this, is this happening?" he looked so shocked.

"I don't know." I pinched him on his butt. "You tell me." I winked. I saw a faint blush go into his cheeks.

"The kids are in the living room." He had his voice low.

"They're watching Tom and Jerry, they're not paying any attention." I was still grinning.

Frankie was right.

What an honor this was.


	23. Rock n Roll Hall of Fame

Chapter Twenty Two

_Rock n Roll Hall of Fame-1990_

We pulled up, and almost instantly everyone started cheering and cameras began flashing. Nicky got out first, Bobby after him. After that was Frankie, and then myself. I took his hand, biting my lip.

All of us had aged, considerably, but that's what happens with time. The guys' hair had this salt and pepper feel to it, the grey mixed with the brown-or black, depending. The men wore nice suits, just black suits and ties with the white shirt (unless you were Frankie, who wore black everything with a yellow necktie), while I wore a deep red dress that was a little low cut in the front and barely scraped the ground as I walked. My hair, now long and usually straight as a board, was curled and kept up with hairspray. It, too, was filled to the brim with grey hairs, but the red still shone bright.

"Wow." Bobby looked around, his goatee now evolved into a simple mustache. "Nothing's changed except for Frankie, right?" he patted Nicky on the shoulder.

"Hey, hey." A reporter got our attention. "So you guys haven't sung together in how long?"

The four of us spoke at the same time.

"Twenty-five years." Was Nicky's answer.

"Twelve years." Was Bobby being a smartass. "Since 1912." He joked. I laughed quietly. When he smiled, you could now see the creases around his eyes, just like the rest of us.

"When you sing your songs now, what's changed?"

"The keys." Bobby answered. "They're a little lower." He looked at Frankie. "Not for you, but for us."

"Are the songs tougher, more meaning, different meaning?"

"You know, this is the first time we've sung together tonight in a long time. So we'll find out tonight."

"Good to know. Thanks, guys, I appreciate it."

"Is that Tommy?" A man asked.

"There's Tommy." The reporter pointed him out. Tommy DeVito, the front of his hair now completely silver, walked up to us. You could tell there was something different about him. He seemed to have... Matured over the last twenty or so years.

"Hello, sir." Bobby greeted him. He held out his hand, and Tommy took it in a firm handshake. "Good to see you."

"Bobby, good to see you." Tommy smiled softly.

"Tommooch." Nicky held out his hand.

"Machoch. Good to see you." Tommy shook his hand like he did Bobby's. I stepped up.

"Hey there, Tommy." I smiled and held out my hand. Tommy took it, covering it with both of his hands.

"Tyler. You look good." He smiled at me. I smiled a bit bigger.

"Thank you, so do you."

"Congratulations on the marriage and kids by the way. About time, isn't it?"

"About damn time." I grinned and stepped to the side. There, Frankie and Tommy stood not too far from each other. Tommy, though, looked at the reporters first.

"So I haven't seen these guys in ages." He then looked at Frankie. "Good to see you, Frankie."

"How's life, Tommy?" Frankie walked up to him.

"I can't complain." At this, Frankie nodded. "Here." Tommy extended his hand.

"Alright." Frankie took his hand. "Alright, Tommy."

Then, something I thought I'd never see in years happened.

They hugged.

The crowd absolutely lost it.

"Let's go inside." Frankie said quietly. We made our way inside, with me taking my husband's hand.

!

We waited backstage for Crewe to announce us. I paced a little, singing quietly to myself.

"Everything okay?"

I turned on my heel and saw Bobby, who was raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine." I nodded. "Just nervous."

"What for? You sing all the time."

"Yeah, but Bobby... This is the Hall of Fame we're talking about. Not the Ed Sullivan Show."

This earned a smile out of him. "Those were good times."

"They were." I nodded. "They really were." Something welled up inside me, then, and I started to take a leap of faith. "Bobby. I have to tell you something. Something I've kept secret for eleven years."

"What is it?"

"It's about Michael."

His eyebrows furrowed. "What about him?"

"He's—" I started to lose my nerve. "He's your son."

"I know." Bobby nodded. I blinked owlishly at him.

"Huh?"

"I kind of figured it out when I saw him last month. He looked just the way I did at that age. Minus the red hair."

"And you didn't say anything?" My mouth dropped open.

"I didn't feel like it would be right. He believes Frankie is his father, and he is. Not biologically, but all his life he's the only father that Mike's ever known. And he's a damn good one at that."

I smiled a little. "Yes he is."

"It's been over 20 years since these guys have appeared on the same stage together," Crewe started.

"Oh, shit." Bobby muttered and the two of us hurried to our spots. We laughed a little, almost like high school kids, but then regained our composure.

"And what better stage for a reunion than this one?" I could hear the smile in Crewe's voice. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome... My old friends, and brand new Hall of Famers, the original Four Seasons!"

The audience lost it as _Rag Doll _began to play. We sang together, just like old times.

"_Rag doll, ooh,_"

"_I love you just the way you are_," Frankie sang.

"_Hand me down_,"

"_When she was just a kid_

_Her clothes were hand me downs,_"

"_Hand me down_,"

"_They always laughed at her _

_When she came into town_,

_Called her,_"

We sang together. "_Rag doll_,"

"_Little_,"

"_Rag doll_,"

"_Such a pretty face_

_Should be dressed in lace_,"

The band started with _Who Loves You_. The five of us turned around, and when we turned back, I swear it was almost like a flashback. It was like back in the sixties, when the guys would wear their tuxedos all the time. That's how it felt.

And it was amazing.

"_Who loves you, pretty baby_?" we sang. "_Who's gonna help you through the night?_

_Who loves you, pretty mama?_

_Who's always there to make it right?_

_Who loves you, pretty baby?_

_Who's gonna help you through the night?_

_Who loves you, pretty mama?_

_Who's always there to make it right?_"

"_Who loves you_?" the rest of us sang.

"_Who loves you pretty baby_?"

"_Who's gonna love you, love you_,"

"_Who's gonna love you, mama?_

_Who loves you pretty baby_?"

The four of us harmonized together, and like that the song was over. The audience stood, clapping and cheering just like they used to.

It was the perfect feeling.


	24. Just Like Old Times

Chapter Twenty Three

A week later, the five of us drove around town, looking at all of the old sights.

"My God, look at this place." Tommy got out of the car. We were dressed casually, t-shirts and jeans.

"Wasn't this the old bowling alley?" I furrowed my eyebrows.

"I think so." Nicky furrowed his eyebrows.

"Some kind of nightclub now." Frankie shook his head.

"Well, damn, we could've played here at one point." Bobby joked. We laughed quietly, walking inside.

"A piano." I pointed at the stage.

"Tyler, they're closed." Frankie said quietly.

"So?" Tommy raised an eyebrow. I saw a little bit of his younger self when he did that, but it wasn't bad.

"So, no." Frankie crossed his arms.

"Babe, c'mon." I begged. "Please?" I pouted.

"No, not the pouty face." Frankie turned away. I heard a few piano notes and saw Nicky over there, smirking at us.

"Hi."

Tommy started laughing and Bobby shook his head.

"C'mon, Frankie!" Nicky called. "It'll just be like the time we broke into the church, except there's no drunken nun to catch us."

"Drunken nun...?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Don't ask." Frankie shook his head. "Okay. One song. That's it. Then we're leaving. I'm surprised the door was unlocked."

"Alright!" Tommy clapped his hands and we made our way down to the piano.

"You play piano?" Bobby raised an eyebrow. Nicky looked up at him.

"I played the hell out of a church organ a few years back."

"Yeah, back in the fifties." Frankie smirked.

"Ha." Nicky started playing the piano. Bobby cleared his throat.

"_I cried for you _

_Now cry for me_

_No no I don't love you anymore_

_Cry for me_."

"_Well, you had your fun,_" Nicky sang.

"_Don't go baby_," Frankie sang.

"_With someone new_,"

"_Don't go baby,_"

"_Now you want me to take you back,_"

"_Don't go baby_,"

"_We're all through_,"

"'_Cause now I'm leaving_," I sang.

"_No no make believin'_

_You made a fool of me_

_So now I'm leaving you,_

_I_,"

"_Loved you so_," Tommy sang.

"_Don't go baby,_" Frankie sang.

"_Much more than you'll ever know_,"

"_Don't go baby,_"

"_But you just cheated and you lied_,"

"_Don't go baby,_"

"_Go and cry for me_,"

"_Well you,_" Frankie cut Tommy off.

"_Knew it from the start_

_Someday you'd break my heart_

_Now we're all through_

_So cry_

_Cry for me_,"

"_Won't you cry for me baby,_" the rest of us sang.

"_Just the way I cried for you_,"

"_Won't you cry for me baby_?"

"_Just the way I cried for you_

_So go on and cry, _

_Cry for me_."

I giggled quietly. "I missed this."

"I have to admit, I missed it too." Nicky nodded.

"I think we all did." Bobby shrugged.

"Well... Besides the roomin' with Tommy part." Nicky laughed and Tommy shot him a dirty look. I started laugh.

"Very funny." Tommy crossed his arms. "I'll let you know, I've matured a lot since then."

"We can tell, Tommy. You finally became a man." I smiled softly.

"Yeah." Frankie agreed. Tommy shrugged, a smile on his face.

"It happens."

!

"Wow..." Frankie shook his head. "I can't believe how much everything has changed."

We sat in a café, eating lunch.

"Hey, Frankie. Remember that night we tried to rob that jewelry store?" Tommy laughed. Frankie smiled and shook his head.

"What happened?" I furrowed my eyebrows.

Tommy laughed for a couple of more seconds. "Well, Frankie's sixteen at the time, right? He's our lookout, and he had to sing this certain song—"

"Silhouettes." Frankie interjected.

"Yeah, Silhouettes. It was to warn us just in case any cop was comin'. So anyways, he sings the song. My brother, Nick, and I are about to have a shitfit because we're getting this fuckin' safe that's probably as tall as this table, maybe a little more, into the trunk of my car. And little Frankie comes runnin' down the alleyway, this look on his face like he was going to shit his pants." At this, Frankie started to laugh. "So I says to him, I says "Get in the car" and he does."

"Just a side note, I didn't know how to drive at the time." Frankie kept laughing.

"So my brother and I get that huge safe in the trunk and the car just goes up on the back tires. The front tires are probably four, five feet in the air." He started laughing again and Frankie's chuckling quietly. "And, the only thing I can think of is to step on the gas. So I run up to the window and all I say is "Frankie, step on the fuckin' gas!" and he does, and I instantly regret the decision. The car's going out of control, my brother and I are running after it, screaming at Frankie to stop, and the dumbass crashes into a store."

At this point, all of us are laughing.

"That's the way to drive, Frankie. Crash into store windows." Bobby clapped.

"Shut up." Frankie kept laughing.

"It was the funniest fuckin' thing. I don't think I'll ever forget it." Tommy smiled.

!

Around five, Frankie and I got home. We were bombarded by the kids, except for one.

"Annie!" I called. A door closed and Mary, now clean and sober, walked out, running a hand through her hair.

"Annie's sick."

"Sick?" Frankie automatically looked worried.

"She started to have a fever not too long after you guys left." She crossed her arms.

"How bad is it?" I asked.

"100.7 last I checked."

Frankie cursed under his breath and hurried to Anastasia's room. I hugged Mary quickly and took out my wallet to pay her, but she shook her head.

"Uh uh."

"What?"

"Put it up."

"Mary—"

"Put the money up. I don't want it."

"Well, yeah, but you watched my little hellions, I have to give you something."

Mary laughed a little. "Trust me. I enjoyed doing it."

"Alright." I put my money up.

"Mommy." Jovanna tugged on my shirt lightly. I looked down at her.

"What, baby?"

Jovanna hugged me. "I missed you."

I hugged her back and fixed her hair.

Michael crossed his arms, shifting his weight to his right foot. "Mom, I wrote something." He smiled.

"You did?"

"Yeah. It's a story for school, but I'm proud of it."

"Can I read it sometime?"

His eyes widened. "Maybe..."

Calvino stayed quiet for a second. "I got a solo in choir yesterday."

I beamed. "That's my boy."

"He's a regular Frankie Valli junior." Mary smiled. "I heard him singing Walk Like A Man earlier."

Calvino's eyes bugged out. "You did?"

"I did."

His face automatically turned red. Even his ears became red. I laughed quietly.


	25. The Interview

Chapter Twenty Four

I messed with my coffee cup as we sat in the booth. It was a fairly large booth—after all, how can you fit six people in the small four seater booth?

We were waiting for some big shot reporter to come and ask us about being in the Hall of Fame, how it felt, our humble beginnings blah, blah, blah. Basically all of that stuff. Boring to some, entertaining to others. Tommy checked his watch, sighing quietly to himself.

"Don't get so hotheaded, they'll show up." Bobby took a drink of his coffee.

"You said that seven minutes ago."

"Yeah, and now I'm saying it seven minutes later."

Nicky rolled his eyes as the door opened. The five of us looked up and saw a woman walk in. Her hair was short and grey and sunglasses covered her face. She wore a plain yellow blouse with nice slacks and heels. Tommy's eyebrows shot up.

"No. Fucking. Way."

"Is that who I think it is...?" Nicky muttered.

"Oh, my God." Frankie's mouth dropped open for a second before he closed it.

"Lorraine?" Bobby's eyes widened.

"Hey, guys." Lorraine sat down in the booth. "How's it going?"

"Oh you know... Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. Just bullshit." Tommy teased.

"But that's what we're here to talk about, right? The Hall of Fame?" Bobby furrowed his eyebrows.

"That's right, so let's start the interview, shall we?" Lorraine took off her sunglasses and set them down. She put a tape recorder in the middle of the table. "So, who exactly led the group in the early days?" she took out a notepad as well and a pen.

"I did. I did all the bookings, handled all the money, all that fun stuff." Tommy took a drink of his coffee.

"Yeah, and look what happened." Nicky muttered.

"Nicky, not now." Frankie snapped quietly at him. Nicky shook his head and sighed quietly through his nose. Lorraine nodded slowly, jotting a few things down. I looked at Tommy. About twenty or thirty years ago, he would've punched Nicky in the face for that comment. Now, he just kind of sat there and let it pass.

"Now," Lorraine started. "When the group first started out, it was just Nicky, Tommy and Frankie, right?"

"The Three Lovers." Frankie nodded his head.

"And then Bobby came, made the group the Four Lovers. How long was it after Bobby joined that Tyler came into the band?"

"I think it was a few weeks. Maybe a month at the most." I shrugged. "I'm not exactly sure."

"About a month and a half later." Tommy answered with confidence. "She stayed the night at Frankie's house and the next afternoon, he called us all over saying he made some huge discovery."

"I'll be honest with you." Nicky started. "I didn't think this kid had it in her. She didn't look like the type that would be singin' in a whole group of guys. Or puttin' up with them for that matter. She looked like an innocent little school girl. But when she started singing, that thought flew out of my head. All I could think was "With a little practice, this kid could be as good as Doris Day." Sure enough."

I grinned and looked at my hands.

"Now, Tyler, you didn't plan on singing, did you?" Lorraine looked at me after writing a few things down.

"No I didn't. Ever since I was three years old I knew what I wanted to do with my life. And that was act. I used to get so lost in the moment. You take on this character and you forget who you are and all your troubles, even if it's just for a few minutes. You just escape reality and live in this world where your troubles melt away and..." I shook my head. "Well, after I started singing, I got the same sense of euphoria. I could escape my troubles, even if it was for only a minute. You get lost in the spotlight and everything just flies out the window. You don't have a care in the world during that time."

"Sounds amazing."

"It was."

Lorraine jotted a few things down. "And you and Bobby were married for how many years..?"

"Two." Bobby answered.

"But we dated about a year, so we were together around three." I added and took a drink of my coffee.

Bobby sat quietly for a second before he smiled, trying not to laugh. "She was my Christmas present."

There was a laugh from Tommy who clapped a couple of times. "I hope you know, Gaudio," he looked over at him. "I arranged that."

Bobby stared at him as I started giggling. "He did. He even had Mary teach me how to 'be sexy'." I did the air quotes with my fingers. At this, Nicky started laughing and Frankie shook his head. Lorraine looked at us, not knowing if she should laugh or not.

"How long did you have that planned?" Bobby asked.

"A couple months." Tommy calmed down. "You enjoyed it though."

"Well, yeah I enjoyed it, but—"

"Then don't have a shitfit about it."

"You wanna know how much they enjoyed it?" Nicky raised his eyebrows. "I heard the headboard banging against the wall all night."

Frankie, who was taking a drink from his coffee, almost spit it out on the table, but didn't.

"Thank you for that image, Nicky." He shut his eyes.

"You're welcome." Nicky gave a shit-eating grin.

!

"Now..." Lorraine messed with the pen in her hand. "The Hall of Fame. That was just a couple of weeks ago. How'd it feel?"

"Surreal." I answered.

"I, first off, thought that I'd never be that famous, and second it's just an honor. It really is. Not everyone is in there." Bobby shook his head.

"But we are." Tommy smirked.

"And we damn well deserve it." Nicky nodded once with finality.

"What did it feel like performing together again?" Lorraine ran a hand through her hair.

"It was great." Frankie smiled. "Just like the old times." He took my hand under the table. I smiled over at him before holding his hand back.

!

After paying for the bill, we all started to leave, but there was one more thing Lorraine wanted to ask us.

"What were your feelings on the breakup of the band?"

"It had to happen." I said. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement, muttering their agreements as well.

"What're you guys doing now? And..." Lorraine trailed off for half a second as she wrote something down. "What do you think what the high point was and what do you think about the old neighborhood?

"You know what I do now?" Tommy started. "I work for Joe Pesci. Little Joey Fishes. Same kid I used to smack around. Couple of months ago we're driving through the old neighborhood. He says, "Hey, Tommy, how do you remember yourself back then?" I says: "I think I was a pretty stand-up guy." He says, "I gotta be honest with you. You were a total prick. Nobody would have put up with your shit except we all needed something."" He shrugged a little. "Everybody remembers it the way they need to, right?"

Nicky nodded once. "People always ask the same question: "Why'd you do it, Nicky? Why'd you walk away?" Well, let me clear that up. It wasn't the side deal. It wasn't the touring. It wasn't the bad food, or rooming with Tommy. It just came out of my mouth. Once I said it, I knew it was what I wanted. I wanted to go home."

Frankie sighed quietly. "They ask you, what was the high point? Hall of Fame? Selling all those records? Pulling _Sherry _out of the hat? It was all great." He paused for a second. "But five guys—four guys and a girl if you want to be 'politically correct'—Under a streetlamp when it was all still ahead of us, first time we made that sound, _our _sound, when everything dropped away and all there was was the music..." he shut his eyes for half a second, remembering, and then opened them again. "_That _was the best."

Bobby shrugged. "I'm not drawn to the old neighborhood, my life never revolved around the old neighborhood; I don't give a _fuck _about the old neighborhood. I'm from wherever I happen to be. And these days, that's Nashville, Tennessee. Just me, my beautiful wife, and a good cigar. Quiet and peaceful in the knowledge that _none _of this could've happened without me." He winked.

"By the way," Tommy added in. "You're ever in Vegas, go to any casino, say the name Tommy DeVito. My hand to God, you'll be out of there in about twelve seconds."

Frankie laughed. "I wouldn't doubt that."

Nicky sighed. "Alright..." He started. "I'll be honest with you. It could have been an ego thing. Everybody wants to be up front. But if there's four guys and a girl, and you're Ringo...? I mean, even Ringo got beat out by Yoko." He nodded for a second and shrugged. "Better I should spend some time with my kids."

"Like that bunny on TV with the battery, I just keep going and going and going." Frankie said. "Chasing the music. Trying to get home."

"And Tyler? You've been pretty quiet." Lorraine looked at me.

"I'm a small town girl, from Oak Leaf, Texas. I never grew up in Jersey, I never really lived the life Frankie and the guys lived, kind of like Bobby. I attended Red Oak High School where I left. I never... Really dropped out. I just ran away. I just... I felt like more a black sheep than anything. I believed the whole time Tommy wasn't too fond of me, and I used to say to myself, "You can do this; you're a strong, Texan woman." I never told anyone what always went through my mind, what made me so motivated. My parents were deadbeats. They said I would be just like them; after all I _am _their child. Time after time after time they'd bring me down, say my writing was shit or that I would never accomplish anything. Finally, I just up and left. I had enough. I ended up and Jersey, I went inside that club, and the rest is history." I paused for a second. "Now? I've written seven screenplays and in the process of writing an eighth. I'm a mother of four beautiful children and a wife to an amazing man. It's all I've ever wanted."


	26. Not Getting Better

Chapter Twenty Five

A hacking cough woke me out of a sound sleep. It wasn't me, it wasn't Frankie. I furrowed my eyebrows, since being half asleep I didn't process things very fast, until I remembered.

Annie was sick.

I slowly got up and shuffled into her bedroom. I heard her stop and groan. I saw her turn in her sleep from the nightlight plugged into the wall.

"Annie?" I whispered. She groaned in response. I walked over to her and placed a hand on her forehead. "Lord, you're burning up..." I looked on her nightstand. "I'm turning the lamp on, honey, shut your eyes." I turned the lamp on and Anastasia turned around. I picked up the thermometer and sat on the bed next to her, turning the thermometer on. "Here, put this is in your mouth." I handed it to her, and she did as told. She turned, weakly, and snuggled up next to me. I stroked her hair gently, working a few small tangles out of her red curls. When the thermometer went off, I took it out of her mouth and looked at it. "Oh, God..." I stood slowly and quickly kissed Annie on the head as she fell back asleep. I hurried into my and Frankie's room and shook him. "Frankie. Frankie."

"What?" I heard Frankie groan.

"Annie's got a fever of 105.9."

"She _what_?" he sat up.

"Her fever is almost 106. I'm taking her to the hospital." I put my robe on.

"What time is it...?" he looked over at the clock as I brushed my hair quickly and put it up in a ponytail before putting on my house shoes.

"I don't know, I didn't look."

"What is that..?" he stared at the clock for a minute. "3:54." He got up, grabbing his blue robe.

"What're you doing?" I looked over at him.

"I'm going with you."

"What about the kids?" I raised my eyebrows as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Michael's old enough to watch them." I started to object before he held up a hand. "I was staying at home alone when I was his age, even younger."

"I don't know..."

"Well, if you want," he put his hands on my shoulders. "I can go over to the neighbor's and ask if they can watch the kids while we're gone."

"I like that a lot better."

"Okay..." he stifled a yawn. "I'll go, you get Anastasia."

"Okay." I nodded and walked back into Annie's bedroom. I saw her sleeping again and I walked over to her. "Anastasia. Anastasia. Come on." I shook her lightly.

"What?" Annie opened her eyes.

"I'm taking you to the hospital."

"No..." she whined and turned away. I gently took her covers off of her and picked her up, groaning a little. "I'm too old for this..." I laughed a little. Annie put a weak hand on my sleeve and I walked to the living room and grabbed her coat. I put it on her as Frankie came back, our tired neighbor in tow.

"Annie..." Frankie stifled another yawn. "C'mon." he picked her up. "God, she's burning up."

I nodded mutely as I stood. I hugged my neighbor.

"Thank you." I whispered. She nodded and we walked out of our home. Frankie put Anastasia in the car and buckled her in as I got in the driver's seat.

!

I paced outside of Annie's room, biting my nail. We'd been here for a few hours, it was around seven in the morning. The sunlight streamed through the windows, highlighting the floor and walls. I stood at the window, staring out at the people that drove, minding their own business. They had no idea what was going on.

I felt hands on my shoulders and, just as a reaction, I stiffened up.

"Sorry if I scared you." Frankie's soft voice said. He ended up standing next to me. I didn't look at him. "You need to sit down, get some rest."

"I can't." I shook my head.

"Honey..."

"I'm not going to be able to rest until I know she's going to be okay." I snapped. Frankie sighed and ran a hand through his hair. I looked in the room she was in. "They're still in there..."

"Well, she's really sick."

"You don't think I know that?" I snarled and sat down.

!

We had been there over a week.

She wasn't getting better.

Anastasia was always the runt of the triplets. She was the littlest and the weakest. She was never as strong as her siblings.

"Mommy?" A soft voice was heard. I turned and saw Jovanna and Calvino hurrying towards me, Michael not too far behind them. I knelt down and hugged them.

"What're you kids doing here?"

"They wanted to come. They wouldn't stop bugging me." Toni crossed her arms. I stood and hugged her.

"Thank you for bringing them." I lowered my voice a little. "Just don't let them around Annie's room."

Toni nodded. "Where's Dad?"

"He's off getting coffee." I ran a hand through my hair.

"You look tired. How much have you slept?"

"I don't know. I got a few hours in last night. Fell asleep around three, woke up at seven. Couldn't go back to sleep."

"That's not good. Are you eating?"

"I had a muffin yesterday." I shrugged. I motioned for her to follow me. "Michael, watch them." I motioned to two of my youngest. Michael nodded and Toni and I walked a bit away from them. "She's not doing well at all. She seems to be getting worse." I wringed my hands together. "She's always been so small and frail. I worry about all my children, but I worry about her the most." I looked at Toni. "She's the runt of the litter, essentially." I shrugged. "I mean..." We stopped and I looked into the room where Ana was. "Have you noticed how much she looks like Francine?" I looked at Toni.

"I have noticed." She nodded. "It blows my mind."

"Well, Jovanna looks like you a little bit."

"But have you seen how green her eyes are? She got those from you."

"Yeah, sadly." I nodded. Toni laughed quietly and gave me a side hug before shoving her hands into her pockets.

"I just hope she'll be okay."

"Me too." I nodded. I looked over at the kids, who were listening to Michael as he told them a story. I smiled a little.

"Will you ever tell him?" Toni asked quietly.

"I don't think so. I mean, Frankie's the only father he's ever known. Why would I want to disrupt his life and give him something to hate me for?"

"But, what if he figures it out?"

"If he figures it out, I'll tell him everything."

"Promise?"

I looked at her. "I promise."

Toni held out her hand. I took it and we shook.

"I'm holding you to that promise, Tyler."

"I kind of figured." I smiled softly. "Let's get back there."

The two of us walked back to the kids.

"...And at the very last moment, the girl looked around and a hook appeared at the window, cracking the glass!"

Jovanna screamed, hopped up and hid behind my legs.

"Michael, don't tell them stories like that, you'll give them nightmares."

"I like them!" Calvino pouted.

"The last time you watched a scary movie you ran into Mom and Dad's room and wouldn't leave for a week!"

"Then next time don't let me watch _The Blob_!"

"You let him watch _The Blob_?" I put my hands on my hips. "Is that why he kept having nightmares?"

Michael's face turned red and he looked away. I sighed quietly and shook my head. Frankie came back, a cup of coffee in his hand. Automatically, the kids greeted him and gave him hugs. I looked at him. He raised his eyebrows.

"What?"

"It took you twenty minutes to make coffee?"

"Well, I meant to come back sooner but I got a call from Crewe."

"Oh, how's he?" I sat down and leaned my head on my hand.

"He's fine. He really just wanted to check on you, since you're refusing all calls." He put a little emphasis on the last three words.

"Frankie, don't..." I started but then saw nurses hurrying down the hall.

And into Anastasia's room.


	27. Little Anastasia

Chapter Twenty Six

I stood at the casket, running my hand over the wood. I cried quietly and someone hugged me from behind.

"I'm so sorry... I know it's hard." Mary rested her head on my shoulder.

"She was nine, Mary." I mumbled. "Nine. She didn't even get a chance to live."

Mary gently rubbed my arm. "I know."

"Tyler."

I turned and Mary broke away from the hug. Bobby hugged me.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered. I nodded mutely and pulled away from the hug.

"Where's Frankie?" I whispered.

"He's over by the pond, talking to Nicky."

I nodded. "Tommy not come?"

"Tommy's here, he's just... God knows where. Probably looking for Frankie." He shrugged. I nodded again.

"Thank you. And thank you for coming. Really. You were one of Anastasia's favorite people." Bobby laughed quietly. I looked over at Michael telling Calvino and Jovanna another story to cheer them up. I smiled softly. "He's so much like you, Bobby. He really is. He writes. Stories, not songs or music, but..." I looked back at Bobby. "He's got a lot of ambition too. And he's a great kid."

Bobby turned and saw the kids, a soft smile on his face. "I can tell."

"You should really get to know him. I mean, you know, after all..."

"Yeah. I'll bring the kids over sometime." He looked at me again, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"That sounds perfect." I smiled a little and hugged him. "Thanks again for coming."

"Hey, anytime."

"It means a lot." I pulled away from the hug and held his face in my hands for a little bit before sighing quietly and crossing my arms. "I'm going to go find Frankie." He nodded and I walked off, trying not to cry. I wanted to stay strong for the kids. After all, wouldn't it scare you if you saw your mother bawling her eyes out?

I walked for a bit before I heard my name called a couple of times. I finally turned and saw Tommy walking towards me.

"You see Frankie?"

"I was just looking for him." I nodded once.

"I wanted to see how he was doin'."

"You and me both." I nodded again. The two of us started walking together.

"How are you doing? I mean, I know it's hard losing a kid and all..."

"I'll pull through." I nodded quickly, wiping away some tears. "I'm just taking it..." I paused for a moment, feeling the sobs coming back. "One step at a time."

Tommy put his arm around me in a big brother type fashion. "It's okay to cry. It's okay to laugh. There's no correct response to it."

"I used to hear that a lot... The only thing I can think of is that I want Ana here... With me... And her siblings. I want to hold her and tell her "No, Annie, there are no monsters in the closet. They're all a figment of your imagination."" I smiled a little. My heart hurt. I felt like it was ripped out and stepped on. "Or even a light scolding for taking two cookies when she was allowed to have one." I wiped away my tears. "There was one time, when the triplets were three. Annie had to have her hair in a bowl cut."

"Something happen? She get gum in her hair?"

"No, nothing like that. Jovanna took the scissors and cut her hair off when she was sleeping. It was so bad that the bowl cut was the only way we could fix it." I laughed a little. "So on her fourth birthday she wore this really pretty pink dress with this boy haircut and it looked absolutely ridiculous." We laughed. Down the trail, I saw Frankie and Nicky. I didn't know what they were talking about—or even if they were just talking—but one was standing and one was sitting on a bench. As we got closer, we saw the one sitting was Frankie and the one standing was Nicky.

"Hey, Frankie." Tommy walked over to him. Frankie stood and they hugged quickly. Tommy told him something in Italian before lightly tapping him on the face. Frankie smiled a little and they hugged again as Nicky looked over at me and then quickly hugged me.

"I'm sorry, Tyler."

"It's okay." I whispered.

"That kid was something special." We pulled away from the hug and I wiped away my tears. I hadn't even realized I was crying again.

"You knew that too?" I asked quietly.

"Everyone did."

I looked over at Frankie, who wasn't smiling. I hadn't been around anyone for the past week or so. Including him. So I know he didn't exactly know if he should comfort me or not. I sobbed quietly before hugging him tightly. I felt him hug me back, his arms holding me tightly but gently.

"We should leave them alone. Go find Crewe or something." Tommy said quietly.

"Good idea." Nicky responded, and we heard the two walking away. After a moment, I pulled away from the hug a little, but Frankie still held me.

"Look, I'm sorry if—" I started but he cut me off by shaking his head.

"Don't be. Everyone grieves in their own way." His voice was scratchy and his eyes were red rimmed. It was obvious he was still crying. Isn't it funny? I thought men were some of the strongest things on this earth. Like they were made out of steel. This day proved me wrong.

"I know, but I kept pushing you away and..."

"It's fine." Frankie said with finality. He stopped holding me and took my hands. "Okay?"

"Okay."

We sat down and I tried to stop the tears for the millionth time that day. I shook my head, feeling the sobs coming back.

"Why'd she have to go?" I said. Of course my voice was a little muffled but that was to be expected. "She was still a baby; she didn't even get a chance to live. It's not fair!" I started to bawl again. "She shouldn't have died! I'm the parent; I'm supposed to go first! I've lived, I've accomplished shit! Not her!" I leaned my head on Frankie's shoulder and he held me close, not saying anything. He was one of those silent supporters. "Not her..." I hiccupped a little and grabbed his arm tightly. "I've sold over a hundred million records. She only sold a few cups of lemonade." My voice was quiet. "I lived my dream... She couldn't... She didn't have a chance."

!

"There you are, I've been looking all over for you two since the service."

Frankie and I walked back to the crowd to see Crewe standing there, his hands in his pockets. He opened his arms.

"Come here." I hugged him first, but he kept one arm out. "Come on, Castelluccio. You too." Frankie joined the hug and Crewe held us close. "I'm so sorry." His words were soft. "I really am. I know it's hard. But you guys can help each other. And I'll be here to help you too. Everyone will. I promise."

"Thank you."

"Thanks, Crewe."

We pulled away from the hug and Crewe fixed my hair. "It's all in your face." He said. "It doesn't look good in your face."

"I keep trying to get her to wear a headband, but it never works." Frankie smiled a bit.

"They give me headaches." I looked at him, an eyebrow raised.

"Frankie..." Mary walked up and hugged him. They pulled away and started talking. Crewe put his hands back in his pockets.

"So how are you doing?"

"Well..." I looked at him. "I've been better." I tried to laugh but it came out as a quiet whimper.

"Look, as long as you and Frankie support each other and help each other through this," he took my hand and shook it a bit. "And call me for help, everything will be okay. I won't say when that'll be because no one knows, but... Things will gradually get better."

"I'll still miss her."

"Of course you will. Just like Francine. Or even Celia." Celia had died in a car accident the same year Francine died, just six months before. "But life goes on, honey. You'll miss them and you'll think of them all the time, but... You also have to think about what they would want you to do."

"I know." I nodded. I looked over at Frankie and Mary, who were talking still. They looked over at me, smiled a little, and then resumed their conversation for a bit before Mary walked over to me and hugged me.

"Call me if you need _anything_, okay?"

"Okay."

"And I mean anything."

I nodded. "Thank you."

Mary pulled away and cupped my chin in her hand for a moment. "You were there for me and you helped me through Francine and Celia. Now I'll help you with Anastasia."

"Thank you." I smiled softly.


	28. Here's To The Old Days

Chapter Twenty Seven

1997

Michael slid down the bannister of the stairs before hopping back onto his feet. He was only a few inches shorter than his father, one inch shy of being six feet tall. Needless to say, he was the tallest in this house. I can't say he didn't get it from either of us, since I'm tall for a woman, but Michael, compared to Frankie, was like a giant or something. His red hair, which needed to be cut, almost reached his shoulders and he could put it up in a ponytail whenever he wanted. His eyes, depending on the light, were either a deep brown or a chocolate brown.

And he looked exactly like Bobby. Well, besides the nose and the smile.

"Michael, I've told you a million times! Stop sliding down the damn bannister!" I lectured, shaking my head.

"Yeah, Michael." Jovanna teased, taking a drink of her milk. Jovanna, when she was little, looked more like Toni, but as time went on my genes began to show. She looked more like me with each passing day, which terrified me. After all, I never thought I was good looking or beautiful to begin with.

Michael walked into the kitchen, getting himself a Coke.

"Don't make me make that black hair white." Michael opened the can.

"Ooh, so scary." Jovanna laughed and washed out her glass before going back to her room. Michael sighed quietly.

"Sisters." He muttered.

"So, Michael..." I looked up from the bills. "I got a call from the school today."

I saw my son tense up. "You did?"

"It seems that Mrs. Collins has requested that you get into National Honor Society."

Michael turned, the tenseness giving away to surprise. "She wants me in NHS?" his eyes widened.

"She does. She said that if you're interested, stop by her room tomorrow morning and get a form."

Michael laughed a couple of times, obviously ecstatic. I'll be honest with you. I've never seen someone so excited to be part of a group. He jumped up and down and when Frankie walked in the door after coming back from a recording session, Michael quickly hugged him. When they pulled away, Frankie blinked.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"Congratulate me, Dad! I'm going to be in NHS!" Michael grinned. Before Frankie could get out a word, Michael hurried upstairs and into his room.

"NHS?" Frankie looked at me. I nodded and walked over to him.

"Yeah. Mrs. Collins called me this morning." I leaned on the kitchen counter. "She said he was the perfect nominee."

"That's fantastic." Frankie beamed. I smiled and nodded.

"I'm proud of him." I thought for a second. "Should I call Bobby? I mean..."

"Well I won't stop you if you want to."

I smiled again. "My son in NHS. Wow. I knew he was smart, but this is... This is amazing."

!

"You don't step to the left, ding dong, you step to the right."

"Fuck dancin'. I'm too old for this shit." Tommy sat on the couch.

"Tommy. We've done this before." I looked at him. Frankie ran a hand through his hair as Nicky took a drink of his wine. Bobby sighed and sat in the chair. "This is our reunion tour. At least try to make it nice?"

"It's for _Sherry_, Tommy. We've done this a million times." Bobby started. "We even did it on _American Bandstand_, remember?"

"I could try to find a tape of it, if you want." I offered.

"Just give me a second, I'll get it." He stopped for a second. "Didn't this seem a whole lot easier when we were younger?"

Frankie laughed a little. "It was."

"We can still do it, it takes a while." Nicky finished off his wine. I took the glass from him.

"Okay, Nicky, you've had enough. I'll get you some water." I smiled a little and walked into the kitchen. I heard Nicky mutter under his breath and returned with a bottle of water. "Here." I handed it to him and then sat down on the couch.

"We should just face it though. There are a few things we can't do anymore or there are things that are just harder to do." Frankie sat next to me.

"I can't do a handstand anymore." Tommy muttered. I looked over at him.

"I couldn't do one to begin with."

Bobby laughed a little. "I used to could dance better than I do now."

"And you remembered to shave." I smirked.

"Ha ha. Funny."

"But honestly..." I took my husband's hand. "We do have to accept that fact. But we can still do some things."

"Like what?" Nicky drank some of his water.

"We can sing. We can dance. We can play badass instruments. And..." I looked over at Tommy. "We can rehearse. Now up, DeVito. Let's get these moves down." I stood.

!

I heard Crewe sigh in frustration.

"Are we seriously going to go through this again?" he asked over the microphone. "It's one damn reunion album. Get the recording done so we can go out and celebrate people! Come on!"

I laughed quietly. The session wasn't going as planned. Tommy was late, though that was because of traffic, my voice kept cracking because I couldn't hit the notes like I used to, and Nicky was easier to piss off because of his hangover.

"Alright, Crewe, just calm down. We'll do it again." Frankie ran a hand through his hair.

"Good. Bye Bye Baby take four." He sighed. The music started.

"_If you hate me after what I say_," We sang. Frankie started speaking, which is how the song went.

"Can't put it off any longer  
>I just gotta tell ya anyway,"<p>

"_Bye bye baby, baby goodbye  
>Bye bye baby don't make me cry<em>," we sang together.

"_You're the one girl in town I'd marry_," Frankie sang._  
><em>"_Girl I'd marry now if I were free-  
>I wish it could be<br>I could love you but why begin it?  
>'Cause there ain't any future in it.<em>"

!

"It took seven tries, but we finally got a perfect take." Crewe smiled. We sat in a booth, eating dinner.

"And we finished the album." I grinned.

"And after that, we got a tour." Bobby winked.

"Just like the old days." Tommy grinned.

"Here's to the old days." I held out my wine glass.

"And to new ones." Crewe grinned.


	29. Back In The Saddle

Chapter Twenty Eight

Our first stop was in New York City. We were in the lobby of a hotel, some of us standing and the others sitting down. I was one of the ones sitting down, along with Nicky and Frankie.

"We got three rooms, which means someone will be alone." Bobby said.

"Thank you for making us aware of that, Gaudio. Now tell me..." Tommy rolled his eyes as he sat down. He then looked at Bobby. "What color is the sky?" Sarcasm dripped from his voice. Nicky tried not to laugh.

"Okay, smartass—" Bobby started.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Frankie snapped at them. He stood and shook his head. "Look. This is a simple fix. Tyler and I will room together."

"Obviously." Tommy rolled his eyes.

"And either Tommy and Bobby will room together, Nicky and Bobby, or Tommy and Nick—"

"I ain't roomin' with him. Not anymore." Nicky crossed his arms and shook his head. "I did that for ten years, not anymore."

"Okay..."

Bobby sighed. "Well, one of us has to get that third room."

"What's the room number?" Tommy raised his eyebrows. Frankie looked at the key.

"722."

"See you upstairs." Tommy swiped the key from Frankie's hand, grabbed his things, and walked to the elevator.

"Well." I blinked. "That solves that problem."

!

I walked to the bed and sat on my side of it, taking off my robe. I fixed my shirt a little before getting in next to Frankie, who was reading a book. I took his glasses off and dangled them in his face.

"Frankie... There's a lot of things more entertaining than a book..." I smiled. He looked over at me.

"Like what?"

I rolled my eyes and gently closed the book and set it to the side, the glasses on top of it, before placing a hand on his cheek and kissing him gently. "Like this." I kissed him again and messed with his nightshirt a little. He pulled away and shook his head.

"Not tonight." He grabbed his book and glasses and I sighed, getting up.

"Well, then when?" I looked back at him.

"When we don't have a concert the next day."

I scrunched up my nose. "That's not until eight thirty tomorrow. Come on." I kissed him again. "We haven't been alone in a very long time. Too many kids running around the house. But..."

"There's no kids around." He smiled a little. I smirked back.

"Exactly."

!

"Hey. Hey. Wake up."

I groaned quietly. "Five more minutes..."

"No. Come on."

I opened my eyes and looked around. "Wha...?" I stared at the ceiling for a second before remembering where I was. "What time is it?"

"Nine seventeen."

I sat up and looked at my husband, who was already up and dressed. He was trying to finish his book.

"Why didn't you wake me up when you woke up?" I stifled a yawn.

"Because I woke up at six thirty and I know how you get if I wake you up before the sun rises."

I chuckled dryly and moved to get up but stopped when I saw that I didn't put my clothes back on before I fell asleep. I reached for my robe and quickly put it on, tying it tightly. "I'm going to take a shower." I walked over to my suitcase and opened it. I started at something for a second and laughed.

"What?"

I picked up an old, worn out short, light purple satin nightgown. "Seriously?"

He looked over. "I like that nightgown on you."

"Yeah, but... It's old."

He shrugged. "I like it on you." He winked and turned back to his book.

!

I paced before the concert had to officially start. The opening act was out there at this point, I didn't even know who they were. I wasn't the one who found them. I looked in one of the mirrors and fixed my hair and held my hands together to keep them from shaking. I tried to sing quietly to one of the songs we were performing, but kept forgetting the words. I shook my head.

"I can't. I can't do this. I can't." I started to leave but someone grabbed my arm.

"Oh no you don't."

I turned and saw Nicky. He was looking at me with this look on his face that I couldn't make out, part of the reason being because it was dark. But I could make out a smirk.

"You leave now, everyone's going to be disappointed."

"Nicky, I can't remember the words." I whispered.

"So? Just go out there and try your best. Doesn't matter if you know the words or not. They'll come to you."

"Promise?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Promise."

"And, now everyone, The Four Seasons!" the announcer called.

"Let's go kick some ass." Nicky smiled. We walked to our places onstage and waited for the curtain to rise.

!

"I'll be honest, I think that was better than when we were together originally." I took a bite of my food.

"Well, in any case, it was a full house and you did not disappoint." Crewe grinned. "I was there. Beautiful start to a reunion tour."

"What's next, Crewe?" Tommy picked at a vegetable on his plate.

"Indianapolis."

"Oh, terrific." Nicky muttered.

!

Indianapolis, Dallas, Chicago, San Francisco, Detroit, and then finally... Las Vegas. I have never seen bigger crowds, the fact that so many people showed up was amazing.

I walked down the steps of the hotel, and as I did I saw Tommy get kicked out of casino. I held in my laughter.

"You weren't lying, were you?" I smiled.

"About what?" Tommy got up and dusted himself off.

"About you getting kicked out in about twelve seconds."

"No, that was if you mentioned my name." He walked over to me. "If _I_ walk in, like then, it's about six seconds."

I laughed and the two of us made our way to our bus, boarding it not too long after. There, I found Bobby, Nicky and Frankie sitting around and laughing.

"What's going on?" I smiled.

"Just talking." Frankie shrugged.

"Oh?" I got into his lap and gently stroked his hair. "You need a haircut."

"I do not." Frankie kept his head out of reach from me.

"Yeah you do. I'm making you an appointment when we get home."

Frankie grumbled quietly as the bus started. I got up and walked to the back.

"Where you going?" Bobby asked.

"Back to sleep. I'm tired as hell."


	30. Decisions, Decisions

Chapter Twenty Nine

_2000_

Michael graduated from high school in 1998. He was now a sophomore in college. Jovanna and Calvino, aspiring to be a dancer and a singer.

I could hear the singing from upstairs. Calvino wouldn't let up on the voice lessons. It was just as bad as giving a kid drums.

"Calvino!" Jovanna yelled. The singing stopped for a second, and then resumed after a few minutes. Jovanna hurried downstairs soon after, her long black hair flowing behind her. "Mom. I will rip out his throat."

I tried not to laugh. "Don't worry. In a few days, you two will be graduating and you won't have to hear him ever again. Until he gets on the radio."

"Oh dear God..." Jovanna got herself something to drink. "Then I'll never hear the end of it." She joked. I rolled my eyes. We sat there in silence for half a second before she looked at me. "Will Uncle Nicky be able to come?"

I sighed. "I don't know, honey. He's been real sick."

"I know, but..."

"I'm sure he'll try." I nodded. "He wouldn't miss it for the world."

Jovanna smiled softly and took a drink of her milk.

!

I turned on the TV, sighing quietly to myself. I kept it on for some background noise and walked over to the wall of pictures. It was basically a timeline from the 1960's to now. Pictures of Mary with the girls, the kids' school pictures, our non-traditional wedding picture with Francine holding a two month old Michael next to Frankie. I smiled at it softly, looking at Francine's smiling face. Who knew two weeks later she wouldn't be with us anymore?

I looked at the picture for a little bit longer and then hurried back to the bedroom, where I knew Frankie was probably getting ready for bed.

"Frankie?" I called, going into the bedroom.

"What?" I heard his voice from behind the door. I opened it and saw him brushing his hair in the mirror.

"I was thinking..." I walked over to him, shoving my hands in my pockets. "You said that when we had time, you'd give me a traditional wedding. Remember?"

"I remember."

"Well..." I stood behind him and gently wrapped my arms around him, and kissed his cheek. "We aren't busy." I kissed his jawline once.

"You know we have to plan it, right?"

"Oh I know." I smiled. He turned and looked at me. "That's what I'm looking forward to. And the traditional honeymoon."

"A honeymoon too, huh?" he teased.

"Yeah. I'm thinking secluded cabin in the woods, that way no press can find us. Just you and me..." I stroked his hair. "And the birds and the bees..." I smiled and kissed him gently. The door opened, but I didn't care to see who it was.

"Oh, God... Mom... Dad...!"

We pulled away to see Calvino with a grimace on his face. He was shaking his head.

"That..." he started. "That's disgusting. Haven't you had enough of each other?"

I looked at Frankie. "Have you had enough of me?" I raised my eyebrows.

"No. Have you had enough of me?"

"Not yet." I looked at Calvino. "Sorry, kiddo." I kissed Frankie again for a second before pulling away and sitting on the bed. "Whatcha need?" I looked at Calvino again, who was staring at the ground.

"Oh, um..." Calvino looked up. "Nothing. I just..."

"What?" Frankie furrowed his eyebrows.

"I'm scared."

"Of what? Graduating?"

"Yeah..."

"Why?" I stood and walked over to him. "This is one of the biggest days of your life." I smiled. "And we're really proud of you."

"But I'm still making a C in algebra."

"So what? Algebra is hard." Frankie shrugged.

"Yeah. Believe me, I was _lucky _if I was making a 70 in algebra."

"I'm making a 75." Calvino shuffled his feet. "I'm not like Michael, Mom. I'm not smart like he is." He shook his head.

"Yes you are." I hugged him. "Yes you are. All of you are smart in your own way." I kissed the side of his head. "I couldn't be more proud of you."

!

It was a large group. Frankie and myself sat on the end of the aisle. Next to me was Tommy, and after him was Bobby and his wife. After them was Nicky, who I thought wouldn't be able to make it. He looked considerably older than last we saw him. We knew he was sick, but we didn't know with what. It was making me nervous. After Nicky was Michael, who was looking more and more like Bobby every day.

"Calvino Valli." The principal looked up from the list. Calvino, dressed in a royal blue cap and gown, made his way across the stage. He took his diploma, and shook the principal's hand. I cheered loudly, as did the rest of us, as he walked off. "Jovanna Valli." The same happened with Jovanna, and again all of us cheered.

"Go Joey!" Tommy cheered. I grinned, clapping, the tears falling from my eyes. Frankie put his arm around me and stroked my hair gently. I looked over at him, and saw the tears in his eyes as well. I kissed his cheek.

"They did it." I beamed.

"They did."

!

Late at night, I stayed up staring at the ceiling in my bedroom. The lights were off and everything was dark, but it was easier for me to think. I sighed quietly and messed with my hands.

"What're you thinking about?" Frankie asked. I looked over at him.

"I thought you were asleep."

He sighed. "Not yet." He turned around and looked at me. "So what're you thinking about?"

"Calvino. Jovanna. Michael. Nicky. I'm worried about Nicky."

"I am too. He didn't look too good."

"He really didn't." I shook my head. I felt Frankie get closer to me and put his arm around me. "I wish he'd tell us what was going on." I took his hand.

"You know how hard headed Nicky is. I love the guy, but when his mind is set, it's set."

"I know, I'm the same way."

"Trust me. I've been married to you twenty years. I know that all too well."

I giggled quietly. "And Calvino and Jovanna... They're fully grown now." I sighed, shutting my eyes. "I wish Anastasia could've been up there with them."

"I do too. I really do."

I cried a little but it wasn't audible. "And Michael... How am I supposed to tell him Bobby is his biological father?"

"I don't know. But you don't have to tell him, you know."

"But don't you think he's going to realize it sometime soon? I mean... he looks just like Bobby. Something has to click."

"Well..." I heard Frankie yawn quietly. "We can tell him tomorrow, if you want."

"Are you sure?" I was uneasy.

"Yeah. I'm not sure how he'll act about it, but... He has the right to know. It's time."

I nodded. Tomorrow was going to be hard.


	31. Secrets Revealed

Chapter Thirty

"Thank you for being here. I think it'll be better for him that you are." I smiled a little at Bob, who nodded and took a drink of his water.

"Anytime." He smiled for half a second. I patted his shoulder and continued to pace. Frankie sighed quietly.

"Tyler, sit down. You're making me nervous."

"I can't sit down. _I'm_ nervous. What if he hates me for this? What if he never comes around after this? Huh? I mean..." I shook my head. "I mean, he's in college now and he can choose to live in the dorms. He can easily not come around."

"Tyler." Bobby sighed and looked at me. "I don't think that's going to happen."

"He may get mad. I'm not going to rule that out." Frankie looked at me as well. "But I don't think he'll do anything that drastic."

"I hope you're right." I sat on the fireplace as the door opened. Michael walked in, singing quietly to himself. The three of us looked at each other as he walked into the living room.

"Hey." He smiled, setting his bag on the ground. "Uncle Bobby, what's up?" he leaned on the wall.

"Hey, Mike." Bobby nodded his head once. I stood, wringing my hands together.

"Michael, sit down. There's something we need to tell you."

Michael furrowed his eyebrows and sat down in the chair near the TV. "Something wrong?"

"No, not really. It's just that..." I sighed and shook my head. "Jesus Christ, I can't do this..." I muttered.

"Do what? What's going on?" Michael's look of confusion turned into one of worry and concern. Frankie sighed and ran a hand through his hair before looking at Michael.

"Here's the deal, Mike..." he cleared his throat. "There's something that we've been holding back from you since the day you were born."

"What?"

"Well—" Frankie started. I held up a hand and took in a deep breath of confidence.

"Look, Mike." I stood beside him. "Before I had you, I was married to a different man. I got pregnant four times and each time I lost the baby. I kept pushing my husband away and we were separated. But one day, just by chance, he just happened to come by, one thing led to another, and well..."

"Right, Mom. I've had sex, I know how it goes." Michael nodded.

"Okay. Then—Wait, what?" I stared at him. "When did you have sex?"

"Tyler, stick to the point." Frankie said. I heard Bobby laughing quietly.

"Anyway. I went through the pregnancy single. I had no husband, no boyfriend. But Frankie and I kept getting closer. And on the day you were born, he was in there with me, and he offered to take you in as his son."

"So... He's not my father?" Michael had a look on his face. I couldn't tell if it was hurt or confusion, but it did hurt me to see it.

"Well—"

"I'm not your father biologically." Frankie cut me off. "But, I am your father because I raised you since the day you were born."

"Then who is?" Michael looked at me and then at Frankie. Bobby stood and I looked back at him.

"I am." Bobby shoved his hands in his pockets.

"And you never told me?"

"I didn't want to disrupt anything you had going on."

"And plus he was married, and I didn't tell him until you were eleven." I shook my head. "Michael, I'm sorry if I hurt you... I am. I didn't mean to."

"We just thought that, you know..." Frankie shrugged. "That it would be better to tell you when you were old enough to understand."

Michael sat there in silence, shaking his head. "This is bullshit..." he muttered. "This is absolute bullshit."

"Michael, please. Don't be angry." I said softly.

"What, I don't have a right to?" he looked at me. "You lied to me my whole fucking life and now you're telling me I shouldn't be angry?"

"Michael—"

"No! I'm not listening to you! What else is a lie, Mom? Huh? What else?"

"Michael, please just... Calm down." I looked at my hands.

"Calm down? Seriously?" Michael shot up out of his seat. "That's all you have to say? Not even 'I'm sorry'?"

"I am sorry!" I raised my voice. "And I knew you'd be mad at me, but I didn't want your childhood to just be shattered or ruined or have a bump in it if you found out that Frankie wasn't your biological father!" I shook my head. "I always wanted the best for you, and it was best for you to know when the time was right."

"Oh, don't give me that bull, Mom!" he walked over to his backpack and picked it up.

"And where do you think you're going?" Frankie stood.

"I'm going to Charlie's house." Michael made sure that he had one strap of his backpack on before going to see his girlfriend, since one strapping was the style.

"Oh no you're not. Sit down." He snapped.

"No. You can't tell me what to do. And you know why? Because, really, you're not my father." At this statement, I saw my husband's eyes widened. He seemed taken aback, and the hurt was in his eyes.

"Alright, that's it." Bobby muttered and walked over to him. He put one hand on his shoulder, looking his son in the eye. "You're not going anywhere until you sit down and act like a responsible adult instead of a bratty child." Michael stood there in silence, his nostrils flaring. "Now sit down." Neither of them budged. "Sit the fuck down!" Bobby raised his voice. Michael threw his backpack down and sat in the recliner, not looking at any of us. Bobby walked over and stood in front of him. "Now you listen to me. These people have loved and cared for you since the day you were born. No, Frankie is not your father biologically. But he's still your father regardless. He took you in and raised you like his own, no questions asked. Most men wouldn't do that, trust me. Maybe I should've stepped in at one point when you were growing up, spent a little more time with you. But I didn't, and I didn't want to ruin anything you had with your parents."

"Some parents." Michael mumbled.

"Shut your mouth until I'm done." Bobby snapped. "Tyler and Frankie, your parents, have been with you since day one. They're the ones that raised you. They're the ones that took care of you whenever you were sick or sad or hurt or God knows what else. You want to be mad at someone, you get mad at me. Do _not _take it out on them. Maybe they should've told you sooner. But they didn't. Was that a mistake on their part? Maybe, I'm not sure. Was it a mistake on my part for not coming around more? You bet your sweet ass, because I missed out on a lot of things." He sighed quietly. "You can be mad all you want. It's a lot to take in. But don't forget who raised who and who loves you."

"Are you done?" Michael snapped at him.

"I guess so, Michael." Bobby shook his head. "I guess I'm just disappointed in your behavior. I thought you were more mature and could take things better than this."

"Guess you thought wrong, huh, _Dad_?" Michael snarled before grabbing his things and hurrying out of the house.


	32. The Christmas Party

Chapter Thirty One

A week or so later, Michael hadn't returned home. Every day I would sit in the living room, just waiting for him to come home. I moved away from the bedroom to just staying in the living room day after day.

Bobby and the guys tried to get in touch with him. Frankie tried to get in touch with him. Even I tried. No answered calls, no nothing.

One night, around two thirty in the morning, I woke up to the sound of the front door closing. I opened my eyes a little and blinked a couple of times to see a figure in the living room. After they focused, I saw the figure making its way over to me. My eyes widened as he knelt down in front of me. I reached my hand out and put a hand on his cheek.

"Michael?"

"Hey, Mom."

"Oh, Michael!" I hugged him before pulling away. "I've been so worried about you, where have you been?"

"I've been staying with Charlie."

"With Charlie?"

"Yeah."

"We've called Charlie's. They said you weren't there."

"Because I needed time away from you guys. Look I just..." Michael shut his eyes for a moment and sighed. "I needed time away from family." He looked at me again. "Time to myself and figure out what I'm doing. I didn't really visit with Charlie and her family; I mainly stayed in the guest room." He cleared his throat. "Except on Wednesday. I stayed with Charlie, and—"

"I don't need details." I shook my head and shut my eyes. When I reopened them, Michael was smiling a little. "I'm just glad you're okay." I fixed his hair. "Why're you here so late? And how'd you get in?"

"Well, Mom, I do have a key." Michael smirked. "And I wanted to come home and I didn't want to wait until morning."

"What're you going to do about the whole Bobby being your biological father situation?"

"Well, I'll talk to him. I'll get to know him better. But I'll still call him Uncle Bobby. That's what I grew up knowing him as. I didn't want to ruin that. And I don't want to ruin my relationship with you and Dad."

"You could never do that." I shook my head. "Never."

Michael nodded and looked down.

!

Things got better after the first few months, but Nicky got worse each time we saw him. We knew he was sick. It was evident. But as December neared, he seemed to be at his worst.

We had all aged. That was a given. Tommy began to look more and more his age, his hair becoming a little whiter with each passing year. Bobby's hair had gotten a little greyer, his moustache gone, and the wrinkles on his face a little more profound. Frankie's hair was still a little salt and pepperish, but he wore his glasses almost constantly now. I liked to tease him, and since the house was practically empty, he knew that when I took them I wanted to try and have a little fun.  
>I, myself, had all of the red tint in my hair gone. I started to look my age now, the years catching up with me.<br>Nicky, though, looked the oldest out of all of us. He was, but he never really did look it. His hair, what was left of it, was completely white and he looked ten years older than what he normally did. Granted, the man was in his seventies but he looked so much older. It scared me.

We had gotten together for an early Christmas party, everyone in attendance (except for Crewe, who was visiting family, and Calvino and Jovanna because they were studying for their finals), Michael bringing Charlie by to meet us. He said she was a really sweet girl, but when we met her, she had a huge attitude problem.

"I heard you and Michael met in chemistry class." I looked over at her.

"Yeah." She smacked her gum. I raised my eyebrows.

"Professor Simpson." Michael nodded, putting an arm around her.

"And the way you two kind of fell for each other when you worked on a project?"

"Why are you asking so many questions?"

"Charlie, what the hell?" Michael whispered. Charlie rolled her eyes and kept smacking her gum.

"Why don't you just chew your gum like a regular person instead of smacking it?" Tommy raised his eyebrows.

"It helps me think."

"Honey, you're wasting your gum." Nicky remarked. Bobby almost spit out his egg nog before he set it down on the end table and started laughing. He did have a point. Charlie wasn't very bright. Michael's eyes widened, but I could tell he was trying not to laugh. Tommy clapped.

"Go Nicky. Spoken like a true smartass." He laughed. I looked at Frankie, who was covering his mouth, hiding his smile.

"That was funny." He said quietly.

"Okay, okay. Fine." Charlie got pissed off. "All of you can take a short walk off a long pier, I'm done." She got up and walked to the bathroom. Michael sighed and went after her. I started laughing.

"She's like the female Biff Tannen, man, what the fuck?" I kept laughing until my sides hurt. Everyone else was either laughing or trying hard not to laugh, but either way we were all laughing.

Until we heard this really bad cough. We looked up and saw Nicky, who finally got the cough calmed down.

"Are you okay?" I looked worried.

"Yeah. Yeah, it's just the treatment I have to go through, it's nothing." Nicky shook his head.

"Doesn't sound like nothing to me." Bobby looked at him.

"Believe me, it's nothin'."

"Nicky. You've been sick like this for a while." Tommy started.

"Yeah, and it's progressively gotten worse." Frankie added. "So please. Tell us what's going on."

Nicky sighed. "Promise you won't have a shitfit?"

"Promise." Tommy nodded.

Nicky nodded. Tommy's promise was good enough for him. "I went to the doctor around May. It's cancer."

I felt my heart drop. Nicky continued.

"I've been going through this chemo and it seems to be working, it just makes me sick and I just got over a quick cold, that's the only reason why I'm coughing. A 24 hour thing, nothin' major."

"Nicky..." I whimpered, almost like a child.

"Don't. Don't do that."

"But..."

"Look, Nicky, this is a big deal." Tommy started. "Why didn't you tell any of us?"

"Because I knew something like this would happen. My kids are already on my ass about it, not to mention Margie. I don't need you guys worryin' about it either."

"I'm sorry Nicky..." I said quietly.

"It's just a big deal." Frankie shrugged.

"Don't worry about it. I'll be fine." Nicky sighed quietly.


	33. Farewell, Nicky

Chapter Thirty Two

I felt like my whole life was beginning to revolve around death.

Nicky died on Christmas Eve. It was hard news to bear. Nicky had been like a brother to me. No matter what, he was always there for me.

"_Is there something going on between you and Bobby? Like a fight?" Nicky asked as he tuned his bass guitar. We were the only ones in the room since the others went out for a smoke break or something like that._

"_Not really." I shook my head._

"_Do you wanna talk about it?"_

"_No... Well... I don't know..." I shook my head. Finally I rolled my eyes at myself. "It's about the baby. I lost it last week after we came home from the tax accountant."_

"_You're fucking kidding, right?" I could hear the shock in his voice. I shook my head._

"_No." I sat down on a stool. _

"_Jesus, Tyler... I'm sorry."_

"_It's okay, I guess. I mean, we can always try again, right?"_

"_That's right. Who knows? Maybe this just wasn't meant to be."_

"_That's what Frankie said too."_

_He got up and then sat on the stool next to me, putting an arm around me in a brotherly way. "Hey. If it's meant to happen, it'll happen."_

"_I know." I nod, smiling softly._

"_And Tommy? Well, he's just a prick. Don't let him get to you."_

"_I'm not." I shook my head._

Sighing, I wiped my eyes with my hands. I hated getting old. Everyone always started dying. I looked at an old picture and then gently set it to the side, getting up from my bed. We'd been home several hours now, the funeral long over with. I walked over to my bookcase, looking for a book, trying to keep my mind off things. Of course that didn't work, and the only book that I haven't read on that shelf was _Misery_, and even though it wasn't the kind of misery I was going through, I didn't want to read it. Took me a month to get over the whole performance by Kathy Bates after I saw the movie ("I'm your number one fan" being the words I dreaded for a while). I shook my head and walked back to the bed, laying on it. I started thinking about the old days, especially the voice lessons. It was 1961, before Bobby and I got together. Nicky and I both had a little too much to drink. One thing led to another, and... Well...

"_Let's try it again. This time work on your chest voice."_

"_Nicky..." I whined and flopped onto the couch. I finished off my wine and then pouted. "I worked on that song for _weeks_!" I emphasized the last word and fell over sideways, now lying on the couch. The two of us laughed at what happened, and then I fell off the couch._

"_Are you okay?" Nicky got up and walked over to me._

"_I'm fine!" I laughed. He sighed and held out his hand to help me up. In my drunken stupor I stared at it before my eyes widened._

"_Oh! Orkan greeting! NaNu, NaNu!" I did the Vulcan symbol, except sideways, and slid my hand on his, making his fingers split and do the same._

"_Right..." he took his other hand and helped me up. When he did, we stood a little close, our hands no longer touching, and the tips of our noses just grazing each other. We were both drunk; both of us had really bad judgment. I don't remember how it happened. It just did. The whole night really was kind of fuzzy. _

_Who came on to whom, I'm not sure. But I've been told I'm kind of a pushy drunk, so it had to have been me. All I remember is that we were kissing. And I mean, _kissing_. None of the just real quick bullshit. _

_I pressed myself against him, my hand on his cheek. It soon slid to the back of his head, and my fingers twirled a few pieces of his hair. He held me close, his hand going down just a bit past my waist. I gently moved my hand down and started to caress his neck. We got onto the couch, me on top. I moved my hand from his neck, gently caressing his chest as his hand went up the back of my blouse. _

_Then, as quick as it had started, it stopped._

_Nicky quickly pulled away and I automatically got off of him. The buzz that both of us had worn off._

"_I can't believe we were doin' that..." Nicky sighed. _

"_It's my fault... I'm the one that kissed you." I paused. "I think."_

"_But I let it carry on."_

"_True... But I made the first move." I cleared my throat and fixed my shirt. "Let's just call it a night. Say this never happened."_

"_Sounds good..." He sat up and fixed his hair a little. "I'll see you next week?"_

"_Yeah." I nod, walking over to the door. Nicky was behind me and he opened it for me. "Thanks." I smiled and started to leave._

"_Hey, Tyler,"_

"_Yeah?" I turned around._

"_You kiss good."_

_I laughed. "Thanks, so do you."_

I hadn't even thought about that until now. It seemed to be a lost memory. I'm not even sure what brought it up.

I turned on the TV, sighing quietly, as Frankie walked into the room.

"Thinking?" he asked.

"About the old days." I nodded. "I miss them."

"Yeah, I do too."

I looked over at him. "I just can't believe he's gone."

"Yeah, I know." He sat next to me, putting his arm around me. "Leave it to a Catholic to go on Christmas Eve."

I snorted and tried not to laugh, something that I ended up failing miserably. "You know what I meant. Nothing's going to be the same anymore." I said as my laughter finally calmed down.

"I know..." he shook his head.

"Did you see Tommy's face? I felt so bad for him."

"He lost a brother. We all did." Frankie sighed.

"What a shitty start to a year..." I shook my head. "I just... I keep on telling myself this is just a bad dream and it'll all go away. But then I keep thinking and I know it'll never go away. It hurts so bad." I began to cry a little. "He was like an older brother to me, too."

"I know. I had to have been... Fifteen when I met him... he taught me how to sing. That guy..." he seemed to have a faraway look on his face. "He could do four-part modern harmonies that would amaze musicians who had studied for years. And he did it all in his head without writing it down."

I smiled softly. "That man was something."

"He really was."

_**A/N: RIP Nick Massi. You are loved and forever missed. Took me forever to write this chapter, mainly because I didn't want to because I felt like crying. But I hope you do enjoy it anyway.  
>Nick Massi: September 19, 1927-December 24, 2000<strong>_


	34. Jersey Boys Success

Chapter Thirty Three

_2004_

"Look. I'm talking to these guys, they're thinking about making a musical out of our story."

I about choked on my coffee. Frankie, Bobby and I had gone out to lunch because Bobby wanted to tell us something.

"Our story? Like as in..." I started.

"As in our success story."

Frankie shook his head. "I don't know, Bob. I just—"

"You're worried about everyone freaking out if they found out about everything, right?" Bobby nodded. "Look, I am too. But these guys... They're really adamant about doing this. Now originally, I was just thinking about doing sort of a _Mamma Mia _thing, like ABBA did. But they said that it would be better if we just did something like this. Tell our story. No one knows it anyway, except for the people closest to us."

"And us." I added.

"Well, yeah."

"I don't know." Frankie shook his head again. "Can you imagine what people are going to think about us?"

"That's what going to keep bringing them back." I said. "Look, Frankie... I think it's time. This isn't the 1960's anymore. It's 2004. It's time. Past time actually."

"But if we do this..." Bobby started. "We have to do it all the way. No lies. No bullshit. All truth. You guys got it?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "Frankie?"

"Frankie?" Bobby raised his eyebrows. Frankie held out his hand.

"Let's do it." He said. Bobby grinned and shook his hand.

"So have you hired anyone? Like writers, directors? Producers?" I asked.

"I did hire a couple of writers." Bobby nodded.

"Who?" Frankie asked.

"Their names are Rick Elice and Marshall Brickman. They're book writers. I also got this director, Des McAnuff."

"Oh, I like him." I nodded.

"You don't even know who he is." Frankie teased.

"I do too. Did you ever go with me to see Big River? No you did not. It was brilliantly done."

"I already read Huckleberry Finn; I didn't need to see the musical!"

"Maybe you might've needed to."

"I didn't need to do anything."

"Hey, hey, _hey_!" Bobby raised his voice a little to get our attention. I looked at him.

"Hi. Don't mind him; he's a grumpy old man." I tried not to laugh as Frankie smiled and shook his head.

Bobby shook his head, smiling a little. "Well. We are going to have lunch with Rick and Marshall tomorrow. I never thought that I would say this but be on your _best behavior_. No banter."

"Why not? They could write us like that. We always banter." I shrugged.

"Not when we first met." Frankie shook his head.

"No when we first met, you saw me wearing Mary's lingerie and straddling Tommy."

"What?" Bobby almost spit out his coffee as Frankie tried not to laugh.

"That was so awkward." He shook his head.

"What am I hearing?" Bobby looked shocked. I laughed.

"Those lessons Tommy had me do to learn how to be sexy for you involved a very...awkward...teaching lesson by Mary."

"Awkward as in they were both wearing lingerie and Tommy...well..."

"Tommy was having the time of his life." I laughed.

"Yeah, I would've been too." Bobby took a drink of his coffee.

"We're putting that in the musical." I nodded.

"We're not putting that in there." Frankie shook his head.

"Oh yes we are." Bobby said, with finality.

!

_La Jolla Playhouse—San Diego California, October 5, 2004_

We sat in the audience, me messing with my hands. We were a few minutes into the musical, and I was biting my lip. On the other side of me sat Bobby and then beside Frankie was Tommy. Beside Tommy was Crewe, who I could tell was more excited than the rest of us. Finally, it got to how we met.

"Hi..." said Stage Tyler. The young girl was from Los Angeles, but her Texan accent was spot on. She must've been working on it for a while. Stage Tommy stopped what he was doing.

"Hi." He mocked the accent.

"My name's Tyler Hampton. I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed the show."

"Well la di da. Go on home. Mommy and Daddy are probably worried about you."

"Tommy..." Stage Frankie muttered.

"I don't have parents. At least, I don't _count _them as parents..." Stage Tyler cleared her throat.

I was already in love with the show.

!

"Come on! Don't be shy!" Stage Mary yelled. "I do all the time! Just shove them!"

"But... But..." Stage Tyler stuttered.

"Just do it!"

At this, the door opened and Stage Frankie had a look of shock on his face.

"What the hell is this?" his voice almost broke. The crowd lost it, everyone was laughing. Stage Tommy was speaking in Italian as Stage Mary and Frankie were arguing. Finally Stage Mary took the actor that portrays Frankie offstage. Stage Tyler started to get up but Stage Tommy held her in the position.

"What?" Stage Tyler's eyes widened.

"Don't. Move."

"Why—Oh dear Lord..."

"Yeah..."

"Someone's alert."

The crowd was laughing so hard. I looked over at Frankie, who was covering his face a little but laughing, and then looked at Tommy, who was cracking up, making the "perfect" sign. He looked at me and I was trying not to laugh. I high fived him. That day was a very awkward encounter indeed. I heard Crewe whooping. Apparently, he had a favorite part of the musical already.

!

"Listen to me... Listen. Listen. Tyler!"

"What?"

Stage Tyler and Stage Crewe were talking backstage before Sherry.

"First. You need to calm down. Breathe in through the nose, out the mouth. Okay?" Stage Tyler did as told. "We okay now?"

"Uh huh." Stage Tyler nodded.

"Good. Good girl. Look. All of you are going to be brilliant out there. Trust me, when you get out there, you forget the audience is there. Okay?"

He was never so right.

!

"Bobby..." Stage Tyler smiled. Stage Bobby was looking at his piano, but then looked up at her.

"What?"

Stage Tyler giggled. "Oh... You know..."

"I do?"

Stage Tyler hopped into his lap. "I'm pregnant."

"You're _what_?"

Stage Tyler nodded and the two hugged and kissed a couple of times before getting up and Stage Bobby starting to leave.

"What're you doing?"

"I'm calling the guys!"

I looked over at Bobby, who was smiling. He looked back at me and I took his hand in mine. Except now, it was more of a friendship thing.

!

"I broke up with Frankie."

"Why?"

Stage Tyler and Stage Lorraine stood there, talking in what was the hallway. It was obvious that the Stage Tyler was pregnant at that time. They made me a little bigger than how I was in real life, but I guess I kind of made up for that with the triplets. Stage Lorraine smiled and shook her head.

"It was time. Besides... He loves you more than he loves me." Lorraine smiled softly and she walked offstage. Stage Tyler walked up to the door that led to the apartment and knocked on it.

"Frankie?"

"Lorraine?" Stage Frankie's voice came from offstage.

"Do I sound like Lorraine? No. I'm not Lorraine. Can I come in?"

"Door's open."

Stage Tyler walked into the apartment, and Stage Frankie was sitting on the couch. "You know, Tyler... I think I'm just done with relationships. What's the point of 'em?"

"Well... Don't they make you happy?"

"In the beginning."

"Well..." Stage Tyler sat next to him. "Then why will you give up?"

"Because they always end in arguments. I don't know. I just... I'm done."

"You don't have to be. I bet you anything the right person is under your nose and you just don't know it yet. Or you haven't met them yet. I don't know. But it'll happen." Stage Frankie looked at her. "I promise."

Stage Frankie leaned in to kiss her, and Stage Tyler seemed to get a little nervous, but the two kissed. I felt Frankie grab my hand and kiss it. I looked at him and kissed him gently before pulling away.

!

I felt his hand tighten on mine. I bit my lip to hold back my own tears. We were at Francine's funeral, and I could hear quiet sobs beside me. I looked at Frankie next to me. His eyes were filled to the brim with tears. I leaned over and gently whispered, "Are you okay? Do you need to leave?"

"No, I'll be fine..." Frankie shook his head and kissed my cheek. "Don't worry."

!

At the end of the show, the crowd stood and clapped and cheered louder than any other crowd I've heard.

And believe me, that's saying something. I looked at Frankie.

"What do you think?"

"I think they liked it."

"Like?" Tommy raised his eyebrows. "You think you know crowds? Look, I know crowds, alright? They loved it, myself included." He smiled.

"So did I." I took Frankie's hand again. I looked at Bobby. "I don't know who did the casting, but they were brilliant."

"I agree." Bobby nodded.

"You know something?" Tommy said, over the crowd.

"What?" I looked at him.

"Nicky would've loved this."


	35. A Couple of Surprises

Chapter Thirty Four

I guess I don't have to tell you that _Jersey Boys _was a gigantic hit. After its premiere year in La Jolla, it moved up to the big time—to Broadway—in 2005.

Also in 2005, I got a couple of bombs dropped on me.

The first one was when Michael came home from New York.

I was sitting in the living room, reading a book. I kept the book close to my face. My eyesight wasn't best it used to be but I absolutely hated my glasses and I refused to wear them.

"Tyler!"

"What?"

"You'll never guess who I bumped into." Frankie walked into the living room and then stopped. He looked at me. "I've told you time and time again to wear your glasses. Why won't you wear your glasses?"

I looked up at him. "Fuck glasses." I put the bookmark in the place and shut the book. I messed with his tie before lightly tugging on it, making him lean down and kiss me. "Who'd you bump into?"

"Hey, Mom!"

I jumped up and looked behind me at the doorway that led into the hallway. "Michael!" I beamed and hurried over to him, hugging him tightly. "How are you? How's your writing career?"

"It's great. I've got a book coming out."

I squealed and looked at Frankie. "He's got a book coming out!"

"I know." He smiled and nodded.

"Also, Mom... I want you to meet someone." Michael cleared his throat. He looked behind him and called to someone. Not too long after, a young woman walked up. She had a short choppy bob, her hair a light brown. She was a tiny little thing, probably five foot or just under that, and was a little twig. Her eyes were sky blue and she had fair skin. "Mom, this is Roxanne."

"Hi." Roxanne smiled. I smiled back.

"She's a dancer."

"Oh, I love dancing. I could never do it though. I've got two left feet." I joked.

"Which is why _we _never danced together." Frankie smirked.

I turned to him and wiggled my finger, mainly joking with him. "Alright, mister. We will talk about this later."

Roxanne giggled.

"She's also my fiancée." Michael said quietly.

I stared at Michael. "Your who?"

"Fiancée." Roxanne nodded. Her voice was a little high, but it wasn't obnoxious. I looked at her. "I wanted to meet you guys sooner, but Michael didn't want me to until he was sure it was the real thing."

I turned to Frankie. "Did you know about this?"

"They told me to keep quiet." Frankie shrugged. "Otherwise I would've told you."

I turned back to the two, and Roxanne was biting her lip. "Please don't be mad Mrs. Valli."

I ended up shaking my head and hugged her. "It's not a big deal. I was just in shock." I pulled away and smiled at them both before hugging Michael. "I'm happy for the both of you. I really am."

"I'm glad to hear that." Michael smiled.

!

I dug through my planner and stumbled across my old wedding plans.

"Frankie!" I called and stood up, hurrying to the bedroom. "Look what I found." I giggled and sat on the bed.

"What did you find?" I heard his voice from the bathroom.

"My old wedding plans." I giggled.

"Oh, here we go again with the wedding plans." I heard him laugh quietly before walking out. I could tell that, from the heat coming from the bathroom, he had his shower of the night. He wore those old blue and white pajamas he's had for God knows how long.

"You know I've bought you so many pairs of pajamas and all you ever wear is those old rags."

"I like these, thank you very much. They're comfortable."

"You may think that but they're so worn out, like—"

"Quiet." He kissed me quickly. "Let me see the plans." I handed him the binder and he looked it over. "Looks like you already planned everything."

"Not really. I still need the seating chart and catering and all that kind of stuff. And then we have to find a church to do the ceremony in. I was going to do that, but Nicky and..." I sighed quietly.

"I understand."

I nodded and he put his arm around me. "Maybe we should do red and white for the colors."

"No. Teal and white."

"Red."

"Teal."

"Red."

"Teal."

"Red."

"Teal."

"Red."

"We'll argue about this tomorrow."

"Sounds good."

!

A few months later, we were going over the plans with Crewe. We had everything figured out.

Except one.

"Red."

"Teal."

"Red."

"Teal."

"Shut up!" Crewe stood. Automatically, the two of us stopped and looked at him. "Thank you. You are having a light, pale green and white. That's it! End of story!" he sat down again. Automatically, Frankie and I started to object but Crewe shook his head. "Green and white or nothing at all!"

We stopped.

"Green and white is nice." Frankie nodded.

"Yeah, especially the pale green I like that."

"Thank God this is over." Crewe sighed and relaxed into the couch. I wrote down the color scheme. I looked at Frankie and smirked.

"Red."

He smirked back. "Teal."

"Red."

"Teal."

"Red."

"Teal."

"_I'm done_!" Crewe shot up out of his seat and left the room. Frankie and I started laughing. "I'm too old to babysit, I am _done_!"

!

"So when is this shindig happening?" Jovanna looked at me as she snacked on a cheese stick.

"Soon. In a few months. Now all your father has to do is go and get a _new tux_,"

"My black tux is fine, thank you very much." Frankie called from the kitchen.

"Frankie, the thing is full of holes! At least the jacket is."

"_One _hole and I can easily get that fixed."

"You're not wearing that black tux." I got up and walked into the kitchen, where Frankie was making dinner.

"Fine. I'll wear the red one, the one I performed _Sherry _in. Better?" his voice was dripping with sarcasm. "And you can wear the _Sherry _dress."

"Ha!" I rolled my eyes. "That dress is a size six. I'm not a size six anymore."

"I am!" Jovanna called.

"Quiet, you're not in this." I crossed my arms. I heard Jovanna laugh.

"Come on, Mom. What dress size are you? I can go find you one."

"12."

"15."

Frankie and I spoke at the same time, me saying twelve, him saying fifteen. I glared at him.

"Now how do you know my dress size?"

"Remember the other day I went to the dry cleaner's?"

"Yeah..."

"Well. I saw the tag of your purple dress. Size 15, bold letters."

"Well, if you didn't make so much Italian food, I'd be a size 12."

"_I'm Italian_! What do you expect me to make?"

"Steak! Hot dogs!" I paused. "Spaghetti!"

"That _is _Italian, smartass!"

Jovanna snorted and started laughing. Frankie rolled his eyes and muttered a few things in Italian. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, shut up." I went into the living room and sat down on the couch, where Jovanna still hadn't recovered from laughing.

"Okay, Jovanna." I ran a hand through my hair. "What did you want to tell me?"

"Well." Jovanna stopped laughing after a moment. "I have some news."

"Yeah..?" I raised my eyebrows.

"You remember John right?"

"No... I never met the guy." I shook my head.

"Oh. Right. Anyway. We had a little fun a few months ago and went to a bed and breakfast, but completely skipped the breakfast and well..." she bit her lip. "I'm pregnant."

There was a loud clang from the kitchen and Frankie started cursing in Italian. A few seconds later, he appeared at the doorway.

"You're _what_?"

"Pregnant..." Jovanna looked down.

Oh boy, here we go.


	36. Finally, A Traditional Wedding

Chapter Thirty Five

A few months after that, I stayed in the bride's dressing room. I didn't wear a long, elegant dress. I was too old for that shit. I wore a nice, but pretty, purple dress. The dress itself was plain, with a tank top cut. But there was this really pretty lacy part that went over it that really gave the dress it's flare, which was the same shade of purple as the dress part. This part had the sleeves, and shoulder pads, though they weren't really that noticeable. The heels were black, and only a couple inches high. I did my own makeup and hair, not wanting any stylists to do it. I've had enough of that. There was a soft knock on the door.

"It's open!" I finished putting my hair up as the door opened and Tommy, Bobby, and Crewe made their way in. I turned and looked at them. "Hey!" I smiled.

"Purple?" Tommy raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, if I wore white I would be a liar." I shrugged. "Or a really sad, sixty one year old woman."

Crewe laughed. "Well, you look beautiful. You really do."

"Thank you." I smiled and hugged him.

"Frankie's a lucky man." Bobby smiled. His moustache was coming back.

"Lucky? He's gotta put up with her." Tommy joked.

"Funny, DeVito. You're fucking hilarious." I smiled.

"I know I am."

I giggled and hugged him.

"Could you not cuss? You are in a church." Crewe teased.

"Psh." I rolled my eyes. "God knows I cuss." I hugged Bobby next. There was a knock on the door and Mary poked her head in.

"Just came by to see Tyler."

"Over here." I smiled. Mary squealed quietly and hugged me.

"You look so beautiful. We just gotta fix your hair." She pulled away from the hug and started to fix my hair. "Why are you wearing this up? Wear it down, it looks better."

"Fine, hair expert. Work your magic." I rolled my eyes.

"You know, you could do half up, half down." Crewe suggested.

"Really? Show me."

"Alright. It's really simple." Crewe made his way over and the two started working on my hair. I looked at Bobby and Tommy and signed "help me". At this, Bobby just kind of shrugged and Tommy looked confused. Obviously he had no idea of what I said. After a few minutes, the two finished.

"Hey, that looks great." Bobby smiled. "You look like Mindy McConnell."

"But, prettier." Crewe broke in. "Especially since she curled her hair and it's not straight."

"And because I helped work on it. At least the braid." Mary shrugged.

!

After we renewed the vows, we went straight into the reception. Jovanna claimed that she wouldn't have any sweets (she was trying to watch her weight but I don't think her method was working very well. She was trying, but she had gained about twenty pounds ever since she revealed she was pregnant—which was normal). Michael was dancing with Roxanne, the two happy as ever. Calvino sang from time to time. He was good, he was very good, but the poor kid's career just wasn't picking up. He worked at a bookstore and the pay wasn't great, but it was enough for him to live on. Nights, he played at nightclubs and got paid pretty good there, but he wasn't getting much publicity. I walked over to Crewe.

"Hey, Crewe?"

"Yes?" He took a drink of his champagne.

"If I give you the 3500, would you record a demo for Calvino?"

"Honey," Crewe smiled. "I'll do it for free. All you have to do is ask."

I beamed. "You're the best, Crewe." I kissed his cheek.

"Yes, I know." He chuckled. "Go get Calvino, we'll work something out."

I hurried over to Calvino, who was arguing with the DJ.

"I said play a _slow _song. _Slow_. You know what slow is, right?"

"Calvino—" I tapped his shoulder.

"I mean, do I have to give you a dictionary?"

"Calvino—"

"What?" he looked at me.

"Come here." I took him by the shoulder and away from the DJ.

"What is it?"

"I talked to Crewe about getting you a demo. He says he'll do it—"

"Mom, I don't have 3500 to spend just at a snap of my fingers—"

"Wait, wait, wait. Let me finish. He says he'll do it for free."

Calvino's eyes lit up. "Yes!" he grinned and ran over to Crewe, and the two started talking.

"He sure is happy, isn't he?" Frankie asked, walking up to me.

"Crewe's doing him a demo. Four songs. For free." I smiled.

"Really?" Frankie smiled.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"He deserves it. Calvino's worked so hard."

"I know." He put an arm around me. "It's his turn."

"I agree." I looked at him and put my arms around him. "So was this the wedding of your dreams?"

I shook my head. "It was _better_." I kissed him gently before pulling away. "I just wish Nicky could be here. He was pushing this."

"Well, at least he can see it." Frankie looked up. "You see this, you old bastard? We finally had a traditional wedding. Maybe if you hung on a few more years, you could've been here!"

I started laughing, and gently stroked his hair. "I love you, Castelluccio."

"I love you too, Hampton."

I smiled softly.

!

We walked out of the building where the reception was held and hurried down the steps. Mary shook our head as we walked by.

"I'm getting déjà vu." She joked. I saw Frankie roll his eyes. I got into the limo first, Frankie after.

"So where're you guys going?" Bobby asked as he held the door open for us.

"That's for us to know and for you not to find out." Frankie winked at him. Tommy leaned down, looking at us.

"Not even a hint?"

Frankie and I looked at each other and then I leaned forward.

"You hear the birds singing when you wake up. You're away from people, and it's just you and the birds and the bees." I winked.

"You're staying in a tent?"

"No, dumbass. We're gonna be in a cabin." Frankie rolled his eyes.

"But that's all we're saying and not a word more." I wiggled my finger at them.

"Okay, okay, okay. Have a good time, you two." Bobby smiled.

"But not too good a time." Tommy raised his eyebrows. We laughed as Bobby shut the door and we drove off.

"Finally, some time alone in how long?" I raised my eyebrows.

"About a day." Frankie smiled. I chuckled and rolled my eyes.

"Without people walking into the apartment."

"Well then..." He thought to himself. "Let's say twenty five years."

"I think you're right." I giggled quietly.


	37. Anastasia Francine

Chapter Thirty Six

_Early 2006_

I stared at the ceiling, thinking to myself.

"Have I ever said how much I hated hospitals?"

"Not in the past thirty minutes."

I looked at Bobby, who was nodding off. He opened his eyes again and looked at me. "Hey." I snapped at him. "Are you expecting your first grandchild? No you're not. Shut up." I stood and started pacing. We had been there since four in the morning and now it was seven at night. Fifteen damn hours in this hellhole and that little bastard still hadn't come. I know it wasn't right to call my grandchild that, but I was tired and didn't care.

"Here, I got the coffee." Frankie walked in, handing me a cup of coffee. I took it without any questions and quickly took a drink. Bobby took his from Tommy.

"Any word yet?" Tommy asked.

"Nothing. All I've heard is wailing from Jovanna. They won't even allow me in there." I shook my head, taking another drink from my coffee.

"Ridiculous. When she had Michael, they let me in the room."

"Frankie, things have changed." Bobby shook his head. His moustache was back, completely. I kept looking at him. When I was half asleep, it was almost like I was drunk.

"Bobby." I stared at his moustache.

"What?"

"Did you know that your moustache looks like an eyebrow on your upper lip?"

I heard a snort from Tommy after he spit some of his coffee out on the floor. He started laughing and set his cup to the side and started clapping. Frankie looked at Bobby.

"It kind of does." He laughed.

"Funny, guys. Funny." Bobby rolled his eyes. Michael, Roxanne, Toni, Calvino, Crewe and Mary hurried in.

"Have we missed anything?" Mary asked.

"Just a couple of wails from Jovanna." I shook my head.

"And Bobby's eyebrow moustache." Tommy snorted.

Michael looked over at Bobby and started laughing. Bobby sighed.

"That's it. I'm shaving the moustache."

"Thank God." Roxanne rolled her eyes.

!

"Look at that little nose. Frankie she has your nose."

"She does not."

"Yeah she does." Tommy nodded.

"She does not have my nose."

"Yes she does." I giggled.

"So you got a name for her yet?" Mary asked.

"I was thinking..." Jovanna cleared her throat. "Anastasia Francine...?"

We all looked at each other, me biting my lip. Finally someone broke the silence.

"I love it." Frankie smiled softly.

!

I stayed up and watched little Annie while Jovanna slept. I held the small baby in my arms. She was so beautiful, looking just like Jovanna—except the nose, she had Frankie's nose.

"You're such a pretty baby. Yes you are." I grinned. "And I'm not saying that just because you're my first granddaughter. I mean it. I bet you anything, you'll be going places, just like me and your grandpa. Because you're going to be so talented in whatever you choose to do. And dedicated." I paused. "I hope." Little Annie cooed gently in my arms. "It's late, you've had a big day." I chuckled to myself. "Time to sleep." I started singing to her, making little Annie look up at me in wonder. Her big brown eyes soon closed and I gently went and set her in her crib thing. I think it was a crib. It looked like a crib. One of the nurses was going to take her back into the nursery later, but they let her stay with us until Jovanna fell asleep.

I walked out of the room, smiling. I was so proud. Even though this baby was born out of wedlock, it didn't make me love her any less. She was my granddaughter, my blood. My kin. And I loved her with every bone in my body.

I started thinking back to my past. I couldn't tell anyone that I wasn't from their time. They'd throw me in the nuthouse. And it would say on the news "Four Season in Nuthouse!" in huge letters. Now who would want that advertised?

Around this time, I would be living with my father. My asshole of a father. He hated me so much, and I returned those emotions. My mother? Well she would be off whoring around with God knows who. I loved her more than I loved my father, but I'll make this clear—I didn't love them as much as I did my grandparents.

They raised me. They helped me become the woman I am today. If it weren't for them, I have no idea where I'd be.

My grandmother and I would have long talks at night while I was growing up. We'd pause whatever marathon we had going on at the time and just start talking. She always told me that if I ever put my mind to it, I could be whatever I wanted to be. One time I asked her if I put my mind to being s stripper if I could be one and she just shot me some kind of evil eye and said "Now I didn't mean that." And then she rolled her eyes.

I couldn't help it. I laughed out loud.

We were poor. I mean _poor_. But we also weren't. Those two filled up the house with so much love that it made us seem rich.

That's the kind of grandmother I was striving to be. How I wanted to treat little Annie. Sure we had our fights, but it never broke our bond. No, our bond was created the day I was born. Usually the father stayed with the mother, but mine left. So guess who stayed? My grandmother. To them that should've been a warning sign, but I guess my mother was too tired to care and my grandmother had her first grandchild to swoon over. She called my father multiple times, but he never picked up. Go figure, huh?

"Tired?" Frankie asked, sitting next to me. I shrugged.

"Yeah, kind of." I looked over at him. "I'm surprised you let Jovanna name the baby Anastasia Francine. I know it still hurts, but..."

"Hey, I thought it was sweet. She wanted to name her daughter after her sisters. What was I going to do? Stop her?" he smiled a little. "Besides, I think it'll be nice saying those names and not feeling this overwhelming sadness when you do."

"Yeah. And you'll probably hear it a lot from me." I smiled and took his hand. "I was raised in the South. And in the South, whenever someone is in trouble, you call them by their first and middle name. I remember, I was three years old. I said my first cuss word."

"What did you say?"

"Shit." I said simply. "My mother lost it. 'Tyler Ann!' she yelled. I went and hid behind the recliner. So she yelled at me to get out from my hiding spot and when I did she gave me a huge lecture. After that she sent me to time out."

"Really?" Frankie furrowed his eyebrows. "I would've expected something worse."

"No, no, no." I shook my head. "You see, spankings never worked on me. It was always the time outs. I'd be there for five minutes, and there would be this huge tear stain in the crease of the wall and all around it." He started to laugh. "See? You're laughing, but it wasn't so funny then." I smiled softly.

"Kind of got that."

I kissed his cheek gently. "We're grandparents." I beamed.

"Well, I was already a grandfather before this..." he smiled. I lightly tapped his shoulder.

"You know what I meant." I smiled. "_I'm _finally a grandmother. I've achieved my life goal."

And damn, was it a good feeling.


	38. The Solo Album

Chapter Thirty Seven

After little Annie was brought home, she was at my house practically every day. Jovanna was a hard worker but didn't have enough money for a baby sitter that would pay hour by hour, and I really wanted a new baby around the house. So, it was an easy way to kill two birds with one stone. I watch Annie, Jovanna saves money, and I get a new baby around the house.

In a roundabout sort of way.

I put the CD in the player, hoping that the music would quiet Annie down. As the song started, she quieted down, her cries becoming coos. She looked up at me for a moment before looking around the room. I started singing along and Annie started crying. I stopped and raised an eyebrow, and not too long after she stopped crying.

"How come you don't like my voice? I am in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, how do you not like my voice?" All that was in response to me was another soft coo. "I bet if Grandpa sang to you, you wouldn't cry." She cooed again. There was a knock on the front door and I got up, gently placed Annie in her crib that I had in the living room and went to the door. When I got there, I saw Bobby standing there. He had shaved the moustache and practically looked like a baby again. I chuckled and opened the door. "Hey. Bobby. What're you doing here?"

"I came to ask you about something."

"Alright." I nodded once and stepped to the side, letting him in.

"You know how Frankie's doing that new album right?" he asked, as I shut the door.

"Yeah. Well, he's thinking about it. No original music or anything, just a few of his favorite love songs from the 60's, nothing major." I stopped. "At least I think he said 60's. 60's or 50's, I don't know. One of those decades. Why?"

"Well why don't you do one?"

"Bobby... I've never really sung solo before..." I bit my lip.

"Exactly. I mean, it's not too late to start."

"Here, come in here and sit down." I ushered him to the living room, and had him sit on the couch. I sat next to him. "Now, explain this a little more."

"I'm not saying start a solo career. But I know you can sing. I've heard you. The whole world has heard you. But it was only in duets. Why not do one solo CD, see how it works?"

"I don't know Bobby, I..." I sighed quietly. "First off I'm going to have to make a session with Crewe; I'm going to have to pick songs—because I ain't writing new ones—"

"Just use the ones that you already have written, do covers... Whatever makes you happy. But Tyler... I think it's time."

"What would I put on there? Tyler Hampton? Tyler Hampton-Valli? Tyler Valli?" I looked confused. "And furthermore, what songs? I mean..." I heard Bobby say my name multiple times, trying to get me to shut up so he could talk, but I didn't listen and kept babbling. Finally he just grabbed my shoulders and kissed me. My eyes widened and when we pulled away I stared at him in shock. "What the...?"

"It was the only way to get you to calm down."

"Well there were other ways! You could've smacked me."

"I don't hit girls, you know that."

I sighed. "Anyway." I stopped for a second. "You kiss way better than when we were married."

"I've had practice." He sighed.

"Yeah I'll bet." I ran a hand through my hair. "Anyways. What songs do you think I should sing?"

"Don't Stop Believin' has always been one of your favorites."

"Bobby, do I look like the lead singer of Journey here?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Well, no, but..."

"Exactly. Besides, I tried singing it not too long ago. My voice cracked. I think I'm losing it."

"Well then sing... something... Like TV themes."

I paused. "_Sunday, Monday, Happy Days_," I began singing and Annie started crying. Bobby tried not to laugh. "It's not funny. That kid hates my voice. The day she was born I sang to her and she liked it, now she hates my voice. I have no idea what happened these last six months." I got up and picked Annie up out of her crib, and started to rock her. "Shhh... Shhh..."

"Well, I see you've got your hands busy." Bobby stood. "Think about it, alright?"

"I will."

!

Several weeks later, I stood in the recording studio, cutting eyes at Bobby.

"I can't believe you talked me into this. Bob, I could kill you."

"Deal with it." Bobby smirked, standing next to Crewe on the other side of the glass.

"Honey, you'll be fine." Crewe reassured. "Just sing your heart out like you always do, and it'll be just perfect." He smiled.

"Okay." I sighed. I looked at the band, who was waiting for my cue.

"Alright. _No Boundaries_. Take one."

The band started to play and I took in a deep breath, praying quietly in my head before I started singing.

"_Seconds, hours, so many days_

_You know what you want but how long can you wait?_

_Every moment lasts forever_

_When you feel you lost your way_

_And what if my chances were already gone?_

_Started believing that I could be wrong_

_But you give me one good reason_

_To fight and never walk away_

_So here I am still holding on_

_With every step you climb another mountain_

_Every breath it's harder to believe_

_You make it through the pain, weather the hurricanes_

_To get to that one thing_

_Just when you think the road is going nowhere_

_Just when you almost gave up on your dreams_

_They take you by the hand and show you that you can_

_There are no boundaries!_

_There are no boundaries!_"

!

After recording a few songs—it was a simple demo track 4 songs _No Boundaries _included—Bobby, Frankie and I went out for lunch. Crewe couldn't come, on account that he needed to have another session with Calvino.

"We got the album done; now I don't know what name to put. Do I put Tyler Valli? Do I put Tyler Hampton-Valli, or just Tyler Hampton? How do people know me?" I sighed and ate a fry. "Or do I just put No Name and make people guess?"

"Why don't you just put Tyler Hampton-Valli? It's easier." Bobby suggested.

"Yeah. That way you can use both your married name and your maiden. And people will know who it is." Frankie agreed.

"Think so?" I raised my eyebrows.

"I know so."

I grinned and took his hand. "Okay. But I'm not naming the album."

"You don't have to. Most artists nowadays don't name their first albums." Bobby said, taking a bite from his burger.

"Well, technically it ain't my first album, you know that."

"First solo album." Frankie smiled.

"And isn't that something to celebrate?" Bobby smiled.

"Well let's not forget that the Mayor of Munchkinland has his own album coming out too." I smirked.

"Funny." Frankie rolled his eyes, smiling. I grinned.

"I'm sorry, I loved that part." I giggled and stopped for a second. "Hey, how come you got an acting job on _The Sopranos _and I didn't?"

Frankie sat there for a second, thinking. "They liked me better."

Bobby started laughing and I shook my head, hiding a smile.


	39. Slow Building Tension

Chapter Thirty Eight

Frankie was out working on his solo album while I stayed home most of the time. Bobby called about me adding a few more songs to mine, and as of now we were in the living room, discussing the plans.

"So. You crossed out Don't Stop Believin', which leaves Better Dig Two, The Dance and I See Fire. So that gives you a total of seven songs."

"Right." I nodded. Bobby sighed quietly before setting the notebook down.

"Alright. Now we just gotta call Crewe, tell him we have a few more songs and have him record you."

"Sounds good." I nodded again before looking at him. "You have a lot more grey in your hair than I thought you did."

"Yeah, well, I can say the same about you." He smirked. I laughed quietly and leaned in a little. "What?"

"Is that five o'clock shadow?"

"...Yes."

I laughed quietly, but when I looked at him I stopped instantly. Something happened then, something that I couldn't figure out. Something with the light, a trick of some sort, happened. It crossed over his face, and I could only think of the voice lessons so long ago. How young he had been... How young _I_ had been.

How handsome he was.

Against my better judgment, and only God knows why I did this, I kissed him. I expected him to automatically pull away, maybe glare at me, yell a few choice words, and leave. But instead, I felt his arms go around my waist and pull me close. I knew this was wrong. I _knew _this was wrong. In fact it was. I was cheating on Frankie, and if he ever found out his heart would be shattered.

The thought made me pull away.

"I... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that..." I shook my head quickly.

"It's fine... It's fine..."

"No, it's not. I feel terrible. I feel like I'm a cheap whore." I put my head in my hands. Bobby removed his hands from my waist, and put one around my shoulders to try and comfort me.

"You're not a cheap whore, you just made a mistake. It happens."

"But you kissed back." I looked at him. Bobby sighed quietly.

"Yeah, I did, didn't I?"

I shook my head. "Let's just pretend this never happened."

"Gladly." Bobby nodded and got up. "So, I'll call Crewe and set the whole thing up. Sound good?"

"Yeah, sounds good." I nodded.

!

But, while Bobby and I wanted to forget what had happened, we just couldn't. It was like elephant in the room.

After the session that day, the two of us met up in the studio. I messed with my hands, not looking at him.

"How do you think it went?" I asked quietly.

"I think it'll go over great." Bobby smiled. "Your voice sounds like it's improving a little."

"I don't think so, but thank you." I ran a hand through my hair. There was a knock on the door and we looked over. There stood Frankie, a hand in his pocket.

"You guys ready?" he asked.

"Yeah." I nodded quickly and hurried over to him, taking his hand.

!

"You okay? You seem kind of tense?"

"Me? Tense?"

We sat together at dinner that night. I probably was tense. After all, I did sort of cheat on my husband and I felt terrible about it.

Instead, I pulled up my acting skills and laughed it off.

"No, I'm not tense. Just stressed and tired."

"You sure?" Frankie raised his eyebrows. I nodded.

"Yeah."

The phone began to ring and I jumped a little. Frankie stood, making his way over to it.

"Hello?" he paused. "What? Cal-Calvino. Slow down. One word at a time, you're talking too fast, I can't understand you." He paused again as I stood, walking into the room.

"Frankie..?" I started but he held up his hand.

"Ah, shit... No. No. Just don't do anything, we'll be right there." He hung up, running a hand through his hair.

"What happened?"

"Calvino's in jail."

"He's _what_?"

!

We walked into the jail.

"Hey, Valli." A voice echoed. Obviously, it wasn't directed towards us. "Betcha I can make you hit that high note."

"I swear to fucking God, man, you say one more thing like that, I _will _kick your fucking ass!" Calvino yelled.

"Try it, wimp!"

I hurried down the hall to Calvino's cell while Frankie was talking to the guard. "Calvino!" I stopped and stood in front. Automatically, Calvino was up against the bars.

"Mom. Mom, I swear to you. It wasn't my fault. I fucking swear."

"Slow down. Okay. Just tell me what happened."

"Where's Dad?"

"He's coming. He's just talking to a cop or a guard. I think it's a guard."

"Probably a guard." Calvino sighed. Frankie walked over as Calvino was resting his head against the bars. His black hair was all in his face, his forest green eyes hiding behind his bangs. Those eyes were the only thing he got from me. Everything else was Frankie.

"Calvino, what the hell is going on? You robbed a gas station?"

"Calvino!" I gaped.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Calvino quickly shook his head. "It's not what you think, I swear."

"Well then..? What's your side of the story?" Frankie raised his eyebrows.

"You know Jackie Thomas right?" Calvino mimicked his father's expression.

"Yeah."

"He basically put me up to it."

"Basically put you up to it how?" I snapped.

"Look..." Calvino sighed. "He made me the getaway driver, but I didn't know anything about it until we got there. He went in there, there were a few gunshots, next thing I know he's hightailing it out of there and hops into the car. He tells me to drive and puts a gun to my head. What am I supposed to do? Say no?"

"Calvino, you're 25 years old. You know who not to hang out with. We warned you about this kid." Frankie began to lecture.

"How was I supposed to know he was gonna rob someone?"

"Look, that doesn't matter anymore." I snapped. "What matters is that he's okay and we have to find a way to get him out. Do they have bail set yet?"

"One thousand even." Calvino sighed. Frankie left my side. I looked at Calvino.

"You said there were gunshots?"

"Yeah." He nodded.

"Someone get hurt?"

"I don't know. I didn't see any blood or anything, and the cops didn't say anything about a murder or an injury."

"Okay, so he didn't hurt anyone. Good. Do you know where he is?"

"No. The cops came; he hopped out of the car, and ran off. They haven't been able to find him."

"They will."

The guard walked up, Frankie behind him.

"Your bail's been paid, Valli." The guard unlocked the cell door. "You're free to go."

"Dad, you didn't have to do that." Calvino shook his head.

"Well how else were you going to get out?" Frankie raised his eyebrows. Calvino hugged him tightly. I ran a hand through my hair.

Things seemed to pick up again. Pick up as in begin to reach a climax.

I didn't like it.


	40. More and More Problems

Chapter Thirty Nine

"So, he robbed a store?"

"Not Calvino, but Jackie did, yeah."

Mary shook her head, putting her cigarette out. "Kids these days. They'll do anything they want; they don't care what anyone else says. I knew that Jackie Thomas was trouble, did I not? I warned him."

"So did we. But no, Calvino knew what he was doing. He said he could handle him. He said that he was the same Jackie from high school, just a little more crazy."

Mary scoffed. "That's a laugh. The Jackie _we _knew wouldn't have done this."

"Yeah, I agree." I cleared my throat. "So how you been?"

"Oh you know. As good as I can be, I guess." Mary messed with the ashtray a little.

"Which means..?"

"For an old woman, I'm fine." She smiled. "Don't worry."

"You just seem... I dunno... Distant."

"I've just been thinking, that's all."

"About what?" I raised my eyebrows. In the background, a bell dinged, signaling someone walking into the restaurant. That bell has been there since the fifties, ever since Mary and I started coming here for lunch. Hard to believe we've been doing this for almost fifty solid years.

"The old days."

"I've been doing that a lot lately..." I nodded.

"I guess... I just miss it, you know? I mean, think about it. We were so young back then. I mean, shit... You were seventeen."

"Seems like an eternity ago, doesn't it?"

"It does." Mary sighed.

!

"So where's Frankie?" I sat in the booth.

"He won't be able to make it today." Bobby cleared his throat.

"Did you not call him?"

"Well..." He looked off to the side. "He's busy working on _Romancing the 60's _so I decided not to bother him."

"I see."

"Look... We need to talk."

"About the kiss?"

"Shh!" Bobby face got a subtle look of panic on it. "Yes." He lowered his voice. I rolled my eyes.

"Bobby, quit freaking out. No one is listening."

"I don't care. I don't like taking chances."

I sighed. "You're getting paranoid in your old age."

"I have every right to be paranoid, and you should be too. What if someone overheard us and it got back to Frankie? Or worse, the press?"

"I doubt anyone's going to hear us. Besides, they might think it's some business deal."

Bobby looked at me, a neutral expression on his face. "A random kiss is part of a business deal? Really?"

"Well, it might be." I rolled my eyes. "You never know."

"Anyway..." Bobby leaned in close and lowered his voice. "Something happened during that kiss. I don't know what it was, but something happened."

"Bobby... We were supposed to forget about it, remember?"

"Yeah, but here's the deal—I can't. I try to, but it keeps popping back into my head like some annoying song."

"_My hump my hump, my hump my hump my hump_—" I sang, mainly to mess with him. The neutral expression appeared on Bobby's face once again.

"Okay, you need to stop."

I laughed. "I hate that fucking song."

"That's practically all they say, it's not even music."

"I know."

He sighed. "But I just... I can't stop thinking about it."

"Yeah, I know... I can't either."

We both looked at each other, and I bit my lip.

!

"Whatever the case..." I sighed. "This isn't going to go away on its own. Not unless we do something about it."

"What are we supposed to do?" Bobby raised an eyebrow. We had left the café and were walking down the sidewalk. People walked around, the hustle and bustle of the city never quieting, never stopping.

"I don't know. But something has to be done."

Bobby glanced at the people around us for a second before grabbing my hand and dragging me to an alleyway. He looked around.

"Okay good. We're alone."

"What're you? Nuts? Here? Not at home?" I gaped at him.

"It's either now or never. What would you rather me do? Just act like nothing's happened? And then when it happens again and we get caught, you can blame it on me?"

"No. I'd blame it on myself."

"Let's just get it over with."

"Okay." I sighed quietly. We stood there, awkwardly, before I felt him gently cup my cheek and kiss me. We figured it would be a quick "Okay yeah, this means nothing, let's go" but instead... I pulled him close, my hand on his chest. I deepened the kiss a little and he responded by putting his arm around my waist.

But then, we stopped.

Bobby was the first to pull away and I quickly turned away and fixed my make up.

"Okay, well..." I sighed, flushing red with embarrassment.

"That was not what I expected." Bobby shoved his hands in his pockets and looked away, his face also red.

"Yeah, no... It wasn't."

"Let's just—"

"Forget?"

"Yeah."

"Gladly."

!

By September, everything seemed to have blown over a bit. Calvino was out, all charges dropped (Jackie was caught not too long ago), Bobby and I's 'affair' seemed to have ended just as quickly as it had started.

And Michael was getting married.

September 22nd, 2006 was the date. Roxanne and Michael married in the Catholic Church and we held the reception at a local club and restaurant.

Everyone was there. Mary, Lorraine, Bobby and his wife, obviously Frankie and myself, Tommy, Calvino (who was getting teased relentlessly about being in the slammer), Jovanna and little Annie, Toni, Crewe and many others. Roxanne's family was there as well, and the mother just couldn't get over the fact that her daughter was now Frankie Valli's daughter in law, even if Mike was his adopted son. She was like a fangirl practically. She asked all of us for our autographs during the reception.

"Tyler." Bobby whispered. I looked at him.

"What?"

"Come with me. I need to talk to you."

We left the room and walked into one that was empty. Seemed to be some kind of closet type space, reserved for only janitors. _A janitor's closet, dumbass_, my mind snapped at me.

"What's up?" I messed with my dress. It was a dark red, which would've gone well with my hair back when I was younger.

"I think someone saw us at that restaurant and that alleyway a few months ago."

"So?" I furrowed my eyebrows.

"This isn't a good thing. You know how the tabloids are. They'll blow everything out of proportion. They always do."

I stared at him for a second before shaking my head. "Maybe it wasn't from the tabloids. And even if it was, they wouldn't really know the difference. They might've thought that we were talking about business."

"Now who do you know talks about business in an alleyway?"

"Drug dealers...?" I shrugged, crossing my arms. Bobby just looked at me.

"Tyler... You don't know any drug dealers. And if you did, I would be questioning your taste in people. Just... Listen to this." Bobby pulled out his cellphone, a little LG KG800 that slid up and had the kind of texting that you had to hit the button however many times you wanted that letter. Once for A, twice for B, and so on. I also had a slide up, but it was a little different. Still LG, but different.

"_Hey Gaudio. Listen, I've got some very interesting audio you might would like to hear, and a few photos. Meet me tomorrow at 12 in the Cracker Barrel off the highway to go into New York. Bring Tyler with you._"

The message ended then. I looked at Bobby.

"Maybe it's a prank..." There was a pit in my stomach, and deep down I knew it wasn't.

"I doubt it is."

"What I want to know is how they got your number."

"They're press." Bobby sighed, putting his phone into his pocket. "They hunt and hunt until they find what they want."

I sighed. "Shit..."

!

"Hey, where'd you guys go?" Frankie looked at us as we sat back down at our table.

"We just went off to discuss the album and we didn't want to do it in front of everyone." Bobby lied.

"Bobby." Crewe looked at him. "This is a party. Don't talk about business at a party, that's ridiculous."

"Yeah, Bobby, shame, shame." Tommy joked.

"Don't lay it all on Bob, Tyler was with him." Frankie smirked.

"Very funny." I smiled at him. But the pit in my stomach was still there.

"Tyler how dare you." Crewe smirked.

"Sorry, I couldn't help it." I laughed a little. Bobby and I looked at each other for a split second. Obviously there was some uneasiness in his eyes, and I'm sure he could see mine.


	41. Blackmail

Chapter Forty

I walked into the Cracker Barrel, obviously uneasy. I looked around and saw Bobby at a booth and walked over to him.

"Is our little press friend here yet?" I whispered.

"Not yet. I've been here for thirty minutes." He answered. I sat down, sighing quietly.

"What do you think is gonna happen?"

"I don't know." I looked over at him. For the first time in years, I saw panic and uneasiness in his eyes. "I just... I... This makes me very uneasy."

"Me too."

It seemed like an eternity before a young man walked in, a manila folder under his arm. His blonde hair was slicked back neatly, his eyes covered by a pair of sunglasses. He wore a white t-shirt with a blue jean jacket covering it. He wore jeans and simple tennis shoes. He made a beeline to our booth and sat in front of us.

"Mr. Gaudio. Mrs. Valli." He smirked. That uneasy feeling in my stomach reared its head again. I knew this wasn't going to be good. "I'm Percy Foster." He took his sunglasses off, and his icy blue eyes were revealed. "I believe I have some photos you'd like to see." He shoved the folder towards us. I stared at it as if it were some kind of snake or spider that would attack and bite me at any second. Bobby and I exchanged looks and Percy shrugged. "Alright, since you two won't open it, I will." He opened the folder and the first picture was just Bobby and I in the alleyway, talking. He slid the photo over and two more were uncovered. One was of us just beginning to kiss and the other was the one where we were fully into the kiss, our arms wrapped around each other. I swallowed hard and looked away. Bobby cleared his throat a little and looked at Percy.

"We were supposed to be alone." His tone was accusatory.

"Which is why I followed you. You're both married; usually two exes don't go into an alleyway by themselves. Or sit at a diner by themselves. Almost all the time you have Frankie with you."

"Frankie was working on his album. He still is." I snapped.

"And I'll be looking forward to hearing it. However," Percy dug into his pocket. "I also have this." he shoved a tape recorder on the table. "I think you should listen." He turned it on.

"_Whatever the case..." My voice sighed. "This isn't going to go away on its own. Not unless we do something about it."_

"_What are we supposed to do?" _

"_I don't know. But something has to be done."_

"_Okay good. We're alone."_

"_What're you? Nuts? Here? Not at home?" _

"_It's either now or never. What would you rather me do? Just act like nothing's happened? And then when it happens again and we get caught, you can blame it on me?"_

"_No. I'd blame it on myself."_

"_Let's just get it over with."_

"_Okay."_

Bobby glared at Percy, who turned the recorder off.

"I hope you know we could sue you for this." he snarled, the venom in his voice was almost foreign to me. The last time he was so angry at someone was Tommy when he got us half a million bucks in the hole. The glare Bobby was giving this kid was so intense. If looks could kill, Percy Foster would be dead a million times over.

"Oh I know. And if you sue, the tape and the photos will be leaked one way or another. Someone will want to know exactly _why _the two of you are suing, and they will go to any lengths to find out the reason."

"Just like how you did to get the recording and the pictures." I said quietly.

"Exactly."

"How were you able to get them?" I furrowed my eyebrows. Percy laughed a little.

"I gave a hobo twenty bucks so he'd give me his spot by the dumpster. I knew this would be a hot story, and I just had to get some evidence. I mean..." he continued to laugh. "An ex husband and wife hooking up behind their spouses backs is just too good to be true. And the fact that the two of them are part of the legendary Four Seasons just makes it all the better."

"Yeah, for you." I snapped.

"Well..." Percy sneered a little. "I won't let these out on one condition."

"Which is what?" Bobby raised an eyebrow.

"I'm willing to keep quiet for a measly five thousand bucks." I gaped at him. "I mean, the two of you have to be filthy rich. I've listened to you since I was a kid, and I have to say, its money well earned."

"I'm not going to pay you five thousand bucks." Bobby snapped, raising his voice a little. I held my hand up to calm him.

"What if we don't pay you the money?" I asked. "What happens then?"

"Easy." Percy shrugged. "I give these photos and the recording to every major news station and tabloids. They spread like wildfire across the U.S. and your careers are tanked. Not to mention your marriages are down the shitter."

Bobby and I looked at each other, and Bobby took in a deep breath before slowly looking back at Percy.

"And if we do pay you?"

"Then the tape just 'accidentally' disappears and the photos are burnt, never to be seen again."

"Bobby..." I looked at him. "Can we talk about this for a minute?"

Bobby opened his mouth to speak but Percy spoke for him.

"Go ahead, take your time." He said, smiling. His smile reminded me of Draco Malfoy's. "I'll wait here. Just not too long."

Bobby and I got out of the booth and walked into the shopping area of the restaurant, making it seem like we were browsing.

"What do you think we should do?" I whispered.

"I don't know. I've never been blackmailed before. Unless you count the time when I was ten, but that was only because I ate my cousin's sandwich by accident... And only then I had to give him five of my marbles." Bobby shrugged. I stared at him for a minute before shaking my head.

"Bobby. This isn't about sandwiches and marbles. This is about a scandal and five thousand bucks." I hissed.

"I know, I know, I know." Bobby sighed, shaking his head.

"Do you think we should?"

"If we don't, he'll release the story." He shoved a hand into his pocket. "He's a little fucking weasel, I don't like him."

"I don't either, but... We have to figure out what we're gonna do."

He sighed again, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm paying him. I'm not letting that story get out. I'm killing it before it has a chance to even get out. What about you?"

"I think we have a deal." I held out my hand. Bobby shook it and nodded once.

"Alright, good."

We made our way back to Percy, who smirked at the sight of us.

"Have we made a decision?"

"We pay you. 2500 each. That way you get your five thousand. You happy?" Bobby raised his eyebrows.

"Satisfied." Percy's smirk broadened a little, happy at the fact that he had gotten his way. "I expect all the money by Tuesday."

"Fuck that. We can both write you a check right now, and you can cash them whenever you want."

"Even better."

So, we wrote the checks in almost record time and shoved them towards Percy, who took them and placed them into his wallet with care.

"And the pictures?" I raised my eyebrows.

"I'll burn them in the fireplace when I get home." Percy smiled smugly.

"Uh uh. You tear them, here and now." Bobby snarled.

"What about the little pieces?" I looked at him. His gaze never left the young man in front of us.

"He better pray to God that not one piece slips out."

"You've got guts, Gaudio. I like that." Percy smirked and began to tear the photos, one by one. By the time he was done, each photo was a bunch of little pieces of confetti.

"Delete the recording." I crossed my arms. Percy messed with the recorder for a minute before smiling again.

"Done."

"Good."

"Mr. Gaudio, Mrs. Valli, it was nice meeting you. But I have to leave." Percy stood and started to walk out, but stopped and looked at us. "Don't do anything that would get you two into trouble now." He cackled and left. I groaned quietly and put my head in my hands.


	42. Goodbye 2006, Hello 2007

Chapter Forty One

2006 soon ended, and 2007 reared its head. There seemed to be no mention of the photos or the recording, and I soon felt a little better about that fact. Frankie was putting some finishing touches on his album, which was set to release in October of this year.

Bobby and I drifted a bit, feeling that it was better that we not be together for a while. We got each other Christmas presents, but it wasn't anything huge or major. Mainly prank gifts (socks and underwear, things like that).

The best gift I received, though, was on New Year's Eve.

We had a small get together, just Frankie, me, Tommy, Bobby and his wife, Michael, Roxanne, Jovanna and little Annie (who was passed out by nine thirty), Calvino and a girl he had met while singing named Ellen Sampson. Ellen was...blessed. In more ways than one. She had a beautiful voice, but she was... Pretty padded in the chest area. Her hair was long and platinum blonde. She had hazel eyes and fair skin that would burn easily if out too long in the sun. They seemed to like each other... A lot. Crewe and Mary also came, and by eleven o'clock, we had the TV on, getting ready for the ball to drop.

Mary drank apple cider, talking to Tommy and asking about the best gamble spots in Vegas. Michael and Roxanne walked over to Frankie and me.

"Hey, where's Uncle Bobby?" Michael raised his eyebrows.

"I think he's talking to Jovanna." I looked around.

"Can you go get him, please?"

"Sure..." I shoved my hands in my pockets and walked around for a moment. The sky was quiet, but I knew that fireworks would be exploding in an hour or so. I walked over to Bobby and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, Mike and Roxy want to talk to us."

"What about?" Bobby raised his eyebrows.

"I have no idea, they wouldn't tell me."

We made our way back to the three as Tommy quickly made his way to the door.

"And where do you think you're goin', Tommy?" Frankie looked at him.

"I'll be right back. I'm just going to get something."

"Something? Tommy, we've got enough champagne." I crossed my arms.

"I ain't champagne and it ain't food. You'll see." And with that, Tommy walked out.

"I swear to you, if it's women..." Bobby muttered. Frankie stared at him.

"Bob. Tommy is 78 years old. I highly doubt he's going to pick up women." He laughed a little.

"I dunno, Mr. Valli. I've seen Jersey Boys and I know for a fact, old habits die hard." Roxanne joked. I laughed.

"Anyway, Mike, what is it you wanted to tell us?" Bobby shoved a hand in his pocket. Michael and Roxanne looked at each other before Roxanne just announced the news.

"We're pregnant!" she beamed. Michael had opened his mouth to say something else, but stopped.

"What she said." He grinned. I squealed quietly and hugged them both as Bobby and Frankie spoke at the same time. Bobby patted Mike on the back as Frankie gave Roxanne a hug.

"Congrtulazioni!" he grinned.

"That means 'congratulations'." Michael whispered into his wife's ear. Roxanne nodded.

"Kind of got that..."

"I'm so happy for the both of you!" I giggled and clapped.

!

"So, Tyler, I've got some news." Crewe pulled me to the side, taking a sip of his champagne.

"Yeah?" I raised my eyebrows. Crewe grinned.

"Your song, Better Dig Two, is number one right now. I got a call from _The Tonight Show _saying that they want you on there performing it."

"When?" I gaped. Me. Solo. On _The Tonight Show_.

"Sometime in the next couple of weeks or so, whenever you're free." Crewe looked so proud. "I'm telling you, Tyler, 2007 is going to be your year, I can just feel it."

"You think so?"

"Oh, honey, I know so." He smiled and winked. "Don't ever doubt me."

I squealed quietly and hugged him. "This is fantastic..!" Crewe looked at me and shook his head, the smile still on his face. "What?"

"Nothing. It's just... You haven't really changed since the day I met you. You're still that happy, bubbly personality that we know and love."

"Well I don't intend on changing."

"You better not, missy. Because I will hunt you down and hurt you myself if you do." He smiled. I laughed quietly.

!

We sat around the TV, since we had five minutes before the ball dropped. The door slammed open and Tommy quickly made his way inside.

"Just in time..." he sat in the chair, running a hand through his hair.

"Where the hell have you been?" Mary stared at him.

"You'll see."

"Somebody throwin' a party without me?" a voice at the door asked. Everyone turned and there stood Joe Pesci, a smirk on his face.

"Joey!" I stood and made my way over to him, hugging him first.

"Hey, Tyler. Lookin' good, lookin' good." He smiled.

"Thanks." I smiled.

"Hey, Frankie." Joey walked over to Frankie, and they hugged briefly.

"Hey, Joey. How've you been?"

"I can't complain." Joey grinned.

"You know, Joey, I actually watched _Goodfellas _last night. I don't mean to sound like a suck up, but..." I shrugged.

"Total kissass." Bobby teased. I flipped him off.

"Ooh, such an obscene gesture from such a pristine girl." Tommy smirked.

"Fuck off, DeVito." I laughed. Tommy smirked.

"Hey, guys, the ball's about to drop." Jovanna pointed at the TV.

"About fucking time." Calvino muttered.

"10, 9, 8, 7," Ellen, Calvino's 'girlfriend', started counting down.

"6, 5, 4, 3," I smiled.

"2, 1, 0!" Everyone joined in. "Happy New Year!"

I grabbed Frankie by his shirt and kissed him in such a way I haven't done since 1990. When we pulled away, he stared at me with his eyebrows raised.

"Later." He whispered. The other couples too, were kissing. The only ones not were Mary, Tommy, and Joey. Mary looked around for a second before quickly kissing her hand. Joey and Tommy glanced at each other, and automatically shook their heads no. Joey thought for a second and kissed Mary on the cheek. Tommy raised his eyebrows, stood, and walked over to Mary, kissing her full on the mouth. They pulled away and Mary just blinked a couple of times.

"I have not been kissed like that since 1962."

This, of course, earned a glare from Frankie and a laugh from everyone else.

!

The next morning, I woke up and looked around. I grabbed my robe and put it on before walking out front and seeing everyone either in a chair, the couch, or the floor (save for Annie, of course, because she was in the spare bedroom).

I stepped around everyone, except for accidentally stepping on Joey's hair and making him grumble in his sleep as a result of it, and walked into the kitchen, starting on breakfast. The first thing I made was coffee.

And when you have fourteen people to cook for, you know it's going to be a huge breakfast. I sang quietly to myself, trying not to wake anyone up, while making a huge thing of pancake batter. There was a little bit of stirring in the living room and not too long after I saw a half asleep Tommy walk into the kitchen.

"Do you have coffee yet?" he yawned, leaning on the counter.

"Not yet, it's brewing." I stifled my own yawn. "How'd you sleep?"

"Like a fuckin' baby." He ran a hand through his hair. "Want any help?"

"If you wanna help, go ahead." I shrugged. "Could you get me the potatoes? I'm planning on making hash browns."

"I like hash browns." Tommy walked over to the pantry.

"Who doesn't?" I shook my head. Tommy walked back over with the bag of potatoes and set them on the counter.

"You say 'pota_to_', I say 'po_ta_to'." He joked.

"Ha. Funny. You should put that in Reader's Digest, it's really original." I smiled. Tommy laughed.

!

"Well, it was fun while it lasted." Joey smiled as he walked to the door. "But, I gotta go."

"Well, hey if you're not busy, we should get together sometime." I smiled.

"That sounds great, we should definitely do that."

"Maybe sometime next week?" Frankie suggested.

"Sounds good to me. I'm free." Joey smiled again.

"Alright, we'll call you." I grinned. We waved once more, said our goodbyes, and Frankie shut the front door. I looked at him. "Well. We're alone." I winked.

"I know. We need to clean up the house." Frankie left my side and walked into the living room.

"Men are so clueless..." I sighed and banged my head on the wall a couple of times before going to help him.


End file.
